Travels

Brooke's Visit: Melbourne and Sydney

2012-01-31T20:21:00.000+11:00

Sorry it's been a bit since my last update, but a lot has happened since then, and this time I have pictures...

Brooke came in on the 17th and we spent our first day walking around Melbourne in the heat. Brooke was understandably a little tired from her trip (Rome - USA - Los Angeles - Melbourne), but we managed to see a lot and enjoy the weather while it lasted...

Our first full day we had a tour scheduled to visit the Yarra Valley and Healesville Animal Sanctuary. Although our brochure advertised a formal tea ceremony, we found the actual "Billy tea" a bit more rudimentary. Nevertheless, we drank our tea and decided to feed some Cockatoos who are not in the least bit shy. I have the scars to prove it.

Our next stop was the Puffing Billy - a steam engine that has been in service for about 100 years. Although it no longer serves its original purpose, the train still provides for some unique scenery as it winds through the bush of Victoria.

For lunch we were dropped off at Ferguson Winery, where the day started to come off the rails a bit...

After lunch we stopped at Healesville Animal Sanctuary, where we got our first look at dingos and kangaroos.

The next day we went to the beach at St. Kilda. Unfortunately the wind was really howling and it was pretty cool, but it didn't stop us from having some oysters and wine at the end of the day. My friend Chris met us there and decided to take us to the casino where I lost $5 on roulette.

The next day we took a tour to Phillip Island to see the little penguins march up onto the beach from the ocean at dusk. We weren't allowed to take pictures of that actual event, but the island was gorgeous. On the way up we stopped at a Koala Sanctuary where they were clinging to the branches very high in the air...Check out the rules for the sanctuary....And here's us at the top of Phillip Island.

In addition to the sanctuary we stopped at a little farm for lunch where we were able to feed some kangaroos and wombats.

The following day we departed for Sydney. We spent the day just hanging around, preparing ourselves for the climb the next day. There is a big bridge in Sydney, and in 1998 they started allowing people to climb to the very top of the arch. Before we climbed (with a guide) we went through an hour long orientation to acquaint ourselves with the harnesses and steep steps we would be climbing. Here were are in our jumpsuits...

And here we are at the top. Really, really cool.

By the way, our hotel was awesome. The Russel is one of the oldest hotels in Sydney, and we had a room facing the harbor.

Next up on our agenda was a visit to the Blue Mountains. We spent the first half of the day walking around ScenicWorld, which is kind of like a nature theme park complete with railroads and see-through floor cable-cars. The views were really spectacular. Check out the rules for the cable car - "no charismatic leaning".

Later that day our tour took us to another zoo where we were able to get a little closer to the koalas...

On our free day we had planned to go to Bondi beach, but unfortunately it was raining most of the time. We decided to check out the Sydney Opera House instead, which was really a great tour. We found out that we could get tickets to "The Magic Flute" for $50 if we had student ID's, so we purchased ourselves some tickets that are regularly $280 a piece and had a night at the opera.

Earlier that morning we took a ferry the Sydney Fish Market - the largest fish market in the world next to Tokyo. You could buy oysters on the half shell there as well as sashimi and a million kinds of fish. Tasmanian oysters were very good. Big, creamy and sweet. But fresh enough that the creaminess was pleasant. Also, big crabs.

The next day was very sad, as we parted ways at the airport. The international and domestic flights left from different terminals, but I scored some free bus tickets and travelled to the international terminal to see her off.

I know this isn't the most detailed update, but I figured some photos were better than nothing.

Got a full time gig at DHL and I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

News...

2012-01-09T15:59:00.001+11:00

So a few days have passed and I am happy to report that I have found employment at "the gravy train" - a local cafe only a short walk away from my house. They hired me despite my lack of cafe experience, and I am quickly learning how to carry multiple coffees without spilling their scalding contents onto children.

Back to New Years Day. After we returned from the races, Eben, Petra and I decided to see a free show in St. Kilda (beachfront area of Melbourne). Upon arrival at 9PM, we found out the DJ we wanted to see didn't go on until 1AM, which ended up being 1:45. Needless to say, we were exhausted at the end of that day, my first full day in Melbourne.

Things did slow down for a bit after that, and I spent my time peppering the town with my resume. Amusement parks, book stores, ice cream shops, bars, cafes, any place that had a door I gave my resume to. I got a few call backs, and one of them was the bar that I mentioned in the last post. They thought I did a good job after my "try-out", but I haven't heard from them since. I'm going back tomorrow to pick up my wages and we'll see what they say. I much prefer the cafe job anyways. Pays the same, and doesn't require a train ride.

So for the next week I'll be working almost every day until Brooke gets here (the 17th). Then some serious sight-seeing begins, and I can relax for a bit (read: no work).

Soon I will share with you the coffee culture of Melbourne...stay tuned...

Job-Seeking

2012-01-04T17:39:00.000+11:00

"You worked behind a bar before?"
"I tended bar in DC for a while."
"Can you be here at seven tonight?"

Here we go.

First Full Day

2012-01-04T11:02:00.001+11:00

New Years was nice...picnic in the park and fireworks at midnight. Celebrations got real when three competing factions of the crowd began setting off their own fireworks. These were some serious boomers, too.

And then some kids took to setting off flares in the middle of traffic. Happy New Year!

Backtracking - after picking me up from the airport, Petra gave me a little driving tour of Melbourne and we stopped in St. Kilda to get a bite to eat. Fresh calamari and chorizo salad. Let me tell you something - the calamari was not chewy. At all. Just creamy and delicious.

After that we went to the mall to try and get me a cell phone. Trying to understand a cell phone plan after two beers and a fifteen hour flight was tricky. You don't buy "minutes" but rather more money. For $20 a month I'm getting $450 worth of credit. But other plans had different setups...one was unlimited texting. One was rollover. And they all have different allowances and different rates. Brand loyalty kicked in and I went with Virgin Wireless.

So that was New Years Eve. New Years Day was even longer.

Eben and his friend picked me up at 11AM to go to the races at Hanging Rock. On New Years Day, there are horse races all around the country and the closest one to Melbourne was the one we were headed to. We arrived a few minutes before the first race and decided to place a little bet to make things interesting. There are a ton of bookies standing around with computer terminals and an LED board with their odds listed. Like the good novice gambler I am, the first thing I did was look at the horses' names. "Silent Harmony"? How could I resist?

Well, he was just about last in everyone's predictions. A bookie named "Chippy" had him at 42:1 to win it, and 7:1 to place. Yikes. But after a little bit of walking I found someone who had him at 10:1 to win. I figured that guy's confidence was enough for me to return to Chippy and place $2.50 each way on Silent Harmony. If the horse wins, I get $105. If it places, I get $17.50.

Well wouldn't you know it, that damn horse came in second place. High fives and beers all around! I knew this was either the beginning of a very good day, or perhaps the beginning of a very bad one. Time would tell.

So as soon we place our bet for the next race...$5 on Fat Tony to place. A cool $25 was bound to be in my pocket, I knew it. But then a voice from the loudspeaker: Ladies and Gentlemen, unfortunately there is a hole in the track that is unrepairable. Therefore the remaining five races are cancelled and no refunds will be given, as is the racetrack policy. But please stick around, we still have the band and the TVs, so you might as well enjoy your time here. Also, if you have a Founder's Club ticket, a full refund will be given.

No, I didn't have a Founder's Club ticket. And no, I didn't have any interest in the band or the TV's in the 90 degree sun.

But I left a winner. And that's all that mattered.

More to come on this day later...

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:56:00.002+11:00

Goodnight!

Finally.

Melbourne, Victoria: Arrival

2011-12-31T19:11:00.000+11:00

After upwards of 20 hours in the air, I am here.

If you ever have the opportunity to fly Virgin Airlines...do it. On the way to LAX I watched the Champs Bowl while sipping ginger ales I ordered from a touch screen. The flight to Melbourne had a ton of great movies to stream for free (everything from Citizen Cane to Midnight in Paris), and countless episodes of Modern Family to punctuate my snoozing. I was able to sleep most of the way, setting me up for a seamless transition into a timezone sixteen hours ahead of EST (I left at 1:30AM EST and arrived at 8:15AM local time). As of writing this (7PM) I haven't slept...I hope to stay awake long enough to catch the midnight fireworks and then sleep the night.

But I'm getting too tired to write anymore. And now the fight will begin. My plan for the night includes wine-drinking in a park. I'm sure I'll be fi...

Vienna, Austria and The End

2009-03-26T06:06:00.002+11:00

Well, since I got caught up in meeting various friends throughout the end of my trip, I stopped updating about six days before I returned. My memory is a bit hazy, so I'm going to have my friend Brandon Moffitt tell you all about it.

After Vienna, I visited my then girlfriend in Athens, and then flew back to BWI. I am alive and well.

Budapest Continued

2008-06-25T06:25:00.003+10:00

Alright, time for the big update.

My second day spent in Budapest wasn't that eventful. I leisurely woke up and made some breakfast, watched the news, and drank tea until about 10:30. Sometimes you just have to decompress. I made some eggs but they turned about really bad because the pan was a piece of crap and I didn't have any butter, so these English girls were laughing at me behind my back. Too bad I spit in their coffee when they weren't looking.

I pretty much spent the day checking out Budapest on foot. Some of things I saw were the Grand Synagogue (which was right by my hostel), St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Opera House and the Chain Bridge. Budapest is actually two cities (Buda and Pest) separated by the Danube River (which is never blue). I was staying in Pest, which was the more major city area. Buda is much more hilly, and is home to some of Budapest's most famous views and buildings. The shore is met by a really steep hill that most people took a funicular to get up to the top of. But being poor, I walked to the top myself. It wasn't that bad - the path was covered in trees to shade me from the sun.

Once at the top, I had three major sights to see. The first was a big cathedral (forgive me for not knowing the same) that was mostly under construction. The scaffolding obscured the the good views, so I did my best to snap a photo of it. The second was Fisherman's Quarry, which surrounds the church. It's sort of a decorative wall that crowns the hill. It's where a lot of famous pictures are taken, so I took one myself.

The last sight I saw from up top was Buda Castle. This place was absolutely huge, and although I didn't feel like going inside (another art museum), the outside was spectacular enough. I especially liked this dramatic fountain of a hunting team.

After walking around shops for a while I went down the hill and crossed back over another bridge to get back to my hostel. The other bridge allowed me to get some good photos of Chain Bridge, which is the most famous bridge in Budapest.

On the way back I was starving, and I told myself I would go to the first kebab place I stumbled across. What a mistake. Although it was pretty cheap, it was the worst kebab I have ever had the misfortune of eating. I knew right away it was going to be bad when I saw the meat shavings laying stale on the metal plate. This is the first key to a good kebab. Before I tell you the rest, I should go over what exactly a kebab is. A kebab is a giant cylinder of compressed meet, roasted on a spit and then shaved (either by a big sword or an electric shaver) into a pita, burrito or sandwich. Inside they usually put lettuce, tomato, hot spices and some kind of sauce. The keys to a good kebab are as follows:

1) Kebab meat is freshly shaven. This way it's not laying next to the kebab getting impossible stale while the rest of the meat maintains its juicy goodness.

2) Sufficient meat is provided. A kebab on a spit is an impressive size, and I hate it when they are skimpy on the meat. It means you have to rely on the crappy vegetables and mystery sauce to fill you.

3) Not sloppy. A sloppy kebab is a sloppy effort. Either they put way too much meat in (which is usually an acceptable sloppy), or way too much sauce (unforgivable). Sometimes this is complimented by a very poor quality pita that is not meant to hold such greasy goodness or the burrito is airy, bendable and loose, depending on the variety of kebab you order.

4) Properly organized. All the ingredients should be mixed so the first bites are not all lettuce, tomato, meat, etc. It should be consistent till the very last bite.

Now I hate to say it, but this kebab failed on ALL FOUR of these requirements. When I ordered it, I shuddered as she threw a small pita into the microwave, filled the pita to the brim with sauce and vegetables before putting the meat in, shoveled stale, hard meat into it (I could hear it scrape against the metal), and then topped it off with a generous helping of mystery sauce. She even had the gall to wrap the pita in paper, as to provide me with a wall of sorts to keep the overflowing pita contained.

Now she probably thought she was doing me a favor filling it to the brim. When I got it, I'll tell you the truth - it didn't look that bad. The meat was on top (remember, bad) and it was practically spilling out of the pita. What could go wrong? Everything. Removing the paper to try and eat the meat was a disaster, and I spilled half of it on the floor and my pants. Then, after getting the pita to a manageable size, all that was left was saucy lettuce, and I felt like I was going to throw up. No joke, I didn't even finish it, and walked down the street and ordered chinese food and ate that instead back at the hostel.

I plan on writing her a nasty letter.

That night I did some laundry and watched soccer and prepared for the next day, which was going to be pretty busy.

I had four things planned for that day. The first stop was the Grand Synagogue. The inside was spectacular, and outside they had a very thoughtful memorial to the victims of the holocaust, a metal weeping willow with names engraved on the leaves. Upstairs they had an exhibition on the Jewish Ghetto in Prague (not sure why exactly since I was in Budapest), but nevertheless it informative and really sad. Some of the stories I heard from the exhibition were really intense.

The next stop was the Terror House. This, without a doubt, is the coolest museum I have ever been to. The site of the museum is the former headquarters of the Secret Police for the Arrow Cross Party and the Soviets. This is where they used to interrogate, torture, execute and imprison hundreds of people. The first three levels were dedicated to Budapest's history during WW2 and the Soviet Era, while the basement was specifically about the building itself. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures, but you can see some of the exhibition here. The downstairs had cells with pictures of the people that had been housed in them. It was very, very creepy.

My third stop was the Szechenyi Baths. Budapest is famous for its assortment of Turkish baths, I wasn't going to leave without visiting one of them. I didn't feel like worrying about taking care of my camera there, so I'll just link to other's photos. The bath operates year round, and is a collection of about twenty different medicinal baths, fed by hot springs. They range from cold to really hot, and they even had a circular bath with a current that swept you around in a circle. Inside they had more baths, as well as saunas, steam rooms and massage parlors. I spent about three hours there, and it was great.

My fourth and final stop of the day was a concert. I try to make at least one concert while I am in Europe, and I have never been disappointed. The tickets were a bit expensive, but I knew it was worth it since I was seeing Mozart's Requiem in St. Stephen's Cathedral. I paid for a crap student ticket, but once I saw the lack of security, I walked right up to the most expensive seats and watched the show from there. The inside is beautiful, and the concert was one of the coolest things I have ever heard. The sound reverberated from above, as well as to the sides. Being inside such a cathedral for a show like that is the best way to hear it.

After the concert, I headed back to the hostel, picked up some cheese and wine, and watched soccer until I went to bed. It was definitely one of the best days I have had traveling. A great mixture of sight-seeing, education, relaxation, culture, wine, music and sports. A good precursor to Vienna.

Oh yeah, and I didn't actually spit in their coffee. Who do you think I am?

Zagreb and My Birthday

2008-06-14T16:47:00.003+10:00

My last night in Dubrovnik, I said goodbye to my hosting family and watched the soccer game with the dad until he was completely passed out on the couch. I didn't think it was appropriate to snap a picture of it, but it was pretty funny.

The next morning I had to get up pretty early to start my travels out of Dubrovnik. I had to take the 7:20 bus to the station, the 8:00 bus to Split, and then the 3:06 train to Zagreb. By the end of all that, I just wanted to get in bed. Walking through Dubrovnik at night was just as cool as the first time, and when I saw the outdoor bar and giant television, I knew that the next night's game was going to be crazy (Croatia vs. Germany).

I had some initial troule finding my hostel, but I eventually did find it after ten minutes of intense cursing and gritting of my teeth. After grabbing some pizza I hit the sack around one.

I was pretty tired the next morning from travelling still, so even though I did walk around Zagreb's serene gardens and squares, I spent the majority of the day in a bookstore browsing around. Sometimes it's nice just to relax and not feel pressured to do anything. There's a few things about Zagreb that I really, really like.

1) In the main area, there are no cars - only trams. This means that there is little to no noise in the center, besides the clangs of bustling cafes and hums of moving trams. It makes it seem a lot more pedestrian friendly.

2) Everywhere you look, cafe tables line the streets and people are constantly sitting at them socializing over wine, coffee, tea or beer. It's a very social city, and I'm not sure how its inhabitants can afford such liberal drinking habits, but it's cool nonetheless. It has a better cafe atmosphere than in Paris.

3) The city is green. The main drag is split by botanical gardens, and trees hang over the streets in many places. At night, the gardens light up and it looks spectacular.

Besides these three reasons, the buildings are old and elegant, and the city is kept very clean.

My second night there was the huge game against Germany. I had to move hostels after my first night because they were so booked, so I didn't have anyone to go to the game with. It was alright though because once I got to the square, it was packed with people watching the opening minutes of the game. When Croatia scored it's second goal, the place went nuts. People lit up flares and were throwing them, beer bottles were flying overhead, and the Croatian anthem was being sung by everyone there (except me, who just sounded off random vowels and guessed the tune - no one noticed). After we won it got even crazier, and a band played till late in the night. I'll get a video up here in a little bit.

I'd like to take the time now to apologize to Stefan. Under any other circumstances, I would be rooting for Germany. I am sad to report that I will be in Vienna when Germany plays Austria in Vienna, and I will be cheering for Austria. Please know that it's only because I plan to leave Austria alive, and waving the German flag in the heart of Vienna will surely guarantee and ass kicking of enormous proportions.

I consider that night to be my birthday celebration, because yesterday was a bit of a dud. I woke up real early (and feeling it pretty bad from the night before) to get on an eight hour train ride to Budapest. I met an older couple from Australia (who gave me some lettuce and olives when I said I was starving) who insisted that we go out to dinner for my Birthday. We split ways once we got into the city, and met back up a few hours later.

We ended up going to "Don Pepe", which is basically the Chi-Chi's of Europe. Even though they are massive tourists (complaining loudly about the smoke in the restuarant, nose buried in a map, walking out into moving traffic, talking unbelievably loud, walking in strange places just to use a bathroom) they are fun people, and I enjoyed the light-hearted company after a day of traveling. They took me out for a birthday drink after, and after that I came back to the hostel and went to bed.

The hostel I am staying in now is really nuts. It's basically someone's apartment (again), but it's less someones home and more someone's hostel. A young couple run it, and right now I basically have the kitchen, computer, lounge, TV, and bedroom all to myself. It's nice to sit back and relax in silence for once. Silence is hard to come by when traveling like this.

Today I'll be exploring Budapest and taking loads of pictures, I'll report back and have them up soon. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, all. It's nice to know I'm being thought about all the way back home.

Croatian Wine Tour

2008-06-12T18:31:00.003+10:00

My last full day spent in Dubrovnik was another good one. I had a lot of fun on the Bosnian tour, and when Iva (I think that's how you spell his name) said there was a wine tour the next day for the same price (basically sixty dollars for all day transportation, four stops with wine, spirits and fresh food), I bit.

We started off at a famous botanical garden from the Baroque period. It is supposedly one of the oldest gardens in Europe. (It's definitely the oldest if you ask a Croatian). The garden was huge and had a wide variety of different plants and such (I managed to take a pretty cool picture of one), and it also had some old buildings and ruins with views of the ocean. How would you like to have this as your front yard?

He also pointed out that the palm trees are brown on the undersides. Iva said that this variety of palm is very hearty, but when the Serbs dropped bombs on Dubrovnik, the palms caught fire and almost burned down. He said that you can see evidence of the destruction everywhere if you just look closely at buildings and plants. When we asked him further about the war, he told us that the Serbs dropped bombs on his town on his first day of high school. He said he remembers his father organizing a town resistance, gathering machine guns and other things in case there was an invasion on foot. During the war he said that he lived as a refugee with his family in a hotel for a while. He told us that he occasionally has nightmares about it, but that life is very good right now for his family.

Looking at the family, you wouldn't know they had been through any kind of emotional trauma that a war can bring on - It was very interesting to spend time with people who lived through the biggest conflict of the decade in the nineties.

We left there after about an our and started off the actual wine tour at this water front little house where a woman lives with her husband and makes wine and catches oysters. When we got there she brought out 2 liters of wine from her cellar (one white, one red) and then went down to the water to get our oysters. Eating them straight from the sea like that was amazing, and even though there were a few little worms wiggling on the platter after we were down, Iva assured us that the worms were nothing to worry about: "Ah yes, ah yes, this means they are very fresh".

If there was one place I know my dad would have appreciated, it was this next stop (well maybe it would have been the oyster stop, you'll have to wait for his comment). We walked into a seemingly plain building, but were pretty struck when we walked into this cellar with cured ham hanging from all over the ceiling. We started off with a welcome spirit, and I ordered what she recommended - some kind of nut liquor.

Soon after she brought out a few liters of wine, fresh bread, olive oil, cheeses and of course, the prosciutto. It ages for two years in this cellar before they serve it. The meal was light, but really delicious, and I was disappointed to leave so soon. Iva assured us that there was much more to come, though.

The last stop on the wine portion of the tour, and perhaps the coolest, was an old man's giant cellar where he makes a ton of different spirits, as well as his own wine. He has made it illegally since the sixties, and has a million different stories about trying to brew alcohol illegally under communist rule, the war, etc. Before we got there, Iva told us that he prays every day that he is alive, because he drinks about two liters of wine a day. When we got there the wife told us that he was taking a little nap, and that would should help ourselves to his stash until he came down. Iva wasted no time pouring us his wine and spirits, and after a while, a very old man with a cap and cane walked slowly down into the cellar and started telling us stories about his winery, which is still ran illegally due to tax reasons.

I have videos of him talking, and he sounds just like the Godfather. I might get a chance to upload them later, but you'll just have to use your imagination by looking at his own bottle of wine (you can actually see him right behind it).

The beach and snorkeling was next. Iva spent a while trying to find "the perfect beach for today" and along the way we almost hit a turtle which Iva insisted we pick up and take back to his house for a pet. After giving the turtle to me to hold for a while, it started to pee and crap all in the bag we had under it, so we convinced Iva that dumping him off at the beach would be a much better idea.

When we all got to the beach we had a little trouble snorkeling after a day of drinking wine, but we all managed. The Norwegian guy was much more tolerable on this trip too. I don't know if it was because of an additional American besides myself on the trip, or the wine. Probably both. Either way, we got along pretty well the rest of the trip.

The last stop was the ocean-side pizza cafe. Iva ordered us pizza before hand, and we ended the day looking out over the water as the sun set. All in all, a great day for sixty bucks.

Bosnia

2008-06-10T07:58:00.003+10:00

When I planned my second trip to Europe, I was a little worried that my plans were a little too stagnant and that I would not be able to improvise if I wanted to. I realized I was wrong when I heard that the hostel organizes day trips to Mostar, Bosnia.

Six of us piled in the car at nine this morning and headed off towards Mostar. The first stop we made was an old fortress atop a hill, where the longest wall in Europe once stood. Many of it is now in ruins, but they have restored some of it, so we walked up the obscenely steep wall to the top where our guide (the son of the owner of the hostel) gave us a brief history lesson.

After that, we crossed the border and ate lunch in Bosnia, where we were served these flaky pastries filled with potatoes, cheese and meat. It was all served with plain yogurt, which was a surprisingly good compliment to our food.

Iva then drove us up a big hill and down into this park with some really cool waterfalls. The water was about 10 C, but some people from our group went swimming anyways. He said the park was usually full, but it was empty today because of the rain. I decided to skip having a swim - just hanging out around the falls was cool enough.

There was a rope swing at the other side, and the four people I was with (a Canadian, a Norwegian, a Finn and an Australian) thought it was the scariest thing they had ever seen. I don't know why they were making such a big deal out of it. It was only about 2 feet above the water once you drop, and the rope wasn't that long. However I knew that when people are scared of a rope swing, they will inevitably make an ass of themselves. The Canadian did just that, and I have a great video of it below. I was hoping the Norwegian would do it and fall on his face. He just can't seem to stop making little snide comments (and big ones) about America. I can roll with that pretty easily while traveling, but soon enough I'm going to start making fun of him for everything he does and says that I find stupid.

His comments range from everything to "I have very little respect for your country and your system" to what he just said at breakfast:

"Yes, we got back yesterday and one of the Americans or Canadians said 'we did the wall thing' *pompous laugh because the girl didn't remember the name of the damn wall*). I don't think even he remembers what it was called. And you can't even have a normal conversation with him, because he knows so much more than you, and if you like something he doesn't, he will provide you with his professional opinion very gladly on why you are wrong and your ideas are rubbish. Of course he precedes everything with "I'm sorry but" so he doesn't seem too harsh to such stupid Americans as myself. I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity for the perfect burn. It will come and it will be GLORIOUS. Unfortunately I'm going with him on a wine tour, so I'll have to hear why everything I like sucks.

The next stop was Mostar, the former war torn city of Bosnia. It took a while for us to get here, and when he stepped out of the car, the fact that I was in Bosnia really struck me. Parts of it are still very rough, and you can see scars of the war on every block. However once we entered the old town, the scenery changed. The bridge (where locals will jump for money) provided amazing views of the city, and the river running through really made the city look cool.

After crossing the bridge, we entered into the old city, which is filled with a bunch of merchants and such selling souvenirs and crafts and such. They make some pretty ridiculous pipes over here...

We ate lunch at a restaurant looking over the river, where we were served pita with beef sausage and of course, yogurt. At first it struck me as odd that they didn't serve beer or pork sausage, but then I remembered that we were at a Muslim establishment. After taking a few more pictures, we jumped in the car and headed back into Croatia, which is one hell of a ride at sunset.

But before we got home, we stopped at a roadside stop and ate some fresh oysters from the Mediterranean...

Tomorrow I plan on going on a wine tour, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Updates

2008-06-09T05:55:00.003+10:00

Pictures are up - get excited. I'm having a blast in Croatia.

Dubrovnik

2008-06-09T03:17:00.003+10:00

After my last post I caught the train to Zagreb and met some guys from USC who I would eventually spend the rest of the night with. We arrived in Zagreb, and they went immediately to an internet cafe so I decided to tag along. I had about 3 hours to kill in Zagreb, so it wasn't bad to have some company.

While walking through the city (which is gorgeous - probably my favorite city and I only spent a few hours there), we asked a security guard if he knew where the nearest internet cafe was. While trying to help us out, he asked us where we were all from. I just went with the flow when one of them said "California", and his eyes lit up and started talking in a hushed wisper.

"Ahhh...California...This I know. You know...Motorcycle men...Hells Angels...(looks around)...We have chapter here."

At this we all kind of smiled but were definitely intriuged.

"But what is different...We are not criminals, big men who fight and things...Instead we like to drink, have good time and....(makes thrusting gestures)...fuck lots of pretty women, no?"

Now this guy probably stands in front of the bank everyday, just watching people pass, and was definitely excited to meet someone, let alone Americans from California who know about Hells Angels - but we were excited to meet him too.

After giving us some directions, he invited us to a pub on Friday night where his band is playing (this guy is about 50), and told us that he plays the harmonica and that there are plenty of girls to go around. None of us were going to be there, but we obliged and told him we would try to make it.

We thanked him for his recommendation and headed towards the pizza place where I ordered a "Sexy Pizza" - pizza with mushrooms, eggs and sausage (which turned out to be a big hot dog cut in two). You'll see why they call it sexy pizza when I upload pictures (which I promise will be soon).

So me and the guys got on board a night train to Split with our pizza and beer, and had a pretty good ride just hanging out, listening to music off of one of their ipods, and jamming to some guitar jams provided by my travel guitar. The second half of the ride sucked, and we all slept in about every position possible to get some sleep.

When we arrived in Split, we were immediately accosted by people shouting "Cheap accommodation, no problem, very close, good for you". Those guys were staying in Split and had no reservations, so they bit on the first woman to offer it to them, and we parted ways soon after.

I instead had a bus to catch to Dubrovnik (no trains run to Dubrovnik), and even though it was incredibly uncomfortable, the scenery was amazing. We actually stopped at a cafe in Bosnia along the way. The bus drivers almost left without a few people both times we stopped though. They seemed generally unconcerned with the girl screaming "STOP! MY BOYFRIEND!" until they saw him running toward the bus.

When I got to Dubrovnik, I was again accosted by about ten women telling me that they had a good place to stay in, and even though I told them all I already had reservations in a reputable place, they continued to push. One woman got really pissed off at me and went to the other women that didn't pick up travelers and yelled something while pointing to me while I stood at the bus stop. Oh well.

When I got to the hostel (which I had a terrible time finding), I felt instantly welcomed. A couple and their son runs the place, and the first thing I did was sit down with a welcome drink (plum brandy) while he explained what there is to do in Dubrovnik while drawing up bus routes on my map. I arrived with an Australian girl, and she also had a welcome drink poured for her. He had a sip and decided she wasn't ready for liquor at noon time, and offered me the rest in fear that the host would be offended. I obliged, and when I was shown to my room, the bed looked really, really nice. The view from the hostel was amazing.

Spending a night on the night train followed by a five hour bus ride and two shots of brandy can make you really damn tired.

I slept for about two hours before I decided to head down to the harbor and check out the town. My original plan was to see the old town at night (the famous part), but I saw rain clouds coming and I didn't want to push my luck...again. (My camera works by the way) I grabbed some dinner at a local pizza place and watched Turkey play Portugal in the EuroCup.

After having an AMAZING breakfast cooked by Milka (some kind of fried pastries), I decided I would walk into the Old City. While walking through, I couldn't help but notice the intense Croation decor hanging from every window and cafe. Croatia plays Austria tonight, and actually I'm writing this while watching the game at the hostel as the son hangs a flag from the balcony. Everyone is wearing a jersey or wearing a flag for a cape, and the honking was near constant. Every time someone passed someone with ANY kind of fan gear, an apparently compulsory beep was heard.

The Old City was really amazing though. It's a giant walled fortress, and inside the architecture is really breathtaking. After about thirty minutes though, you realize that the only thing inside of the old city is cafes, tourist shops and restaurants. It's flooded with tourists and gets old pretty quick. Eventually I left and made my way down the coast, passing quite a few five star hotels along the way. Despite the tourism, it as an amazing thing to see.

Dubrovnik is renown for it's seafood, so on the way home I picked up some pasta and about 40 fresh mussels for 14 kuna (about $2.40). When I got back to the hostel, I started cooking my meal when Milka (the mom of six who runs the place) starts asking what in the hell I'm exactly doing. My plan was to cook the mussels in olive oil, salt, garlic, and parsley, and pour that mixture over the pasta. When Milka (who was a cook for 25 years) told me to start doing something different though, I definitely obliged. She eventually took over my piss-poor efforts, and cooked me up a delicious meal of pasta and mussels.

And that about leads me to what I'm doing now. I just finished cleaning my dishes, and I'm watching the end of the game with the rests of the guests on their big projection screen. Croatia is in the lead, and if they win, I think we will all go out with the son and celebrate. After a low point in Bled, I'm having a great time in Croatia.

Tomorrow I'm off on a day trip to Bosnia with the son and a few guests. Should be really cool to be there.

And it looks like CROATIA WINS! Time to celebrate...I actually JUST took this picture.

Salzburg and Bled

2008-06-06T22:48:00.003+10:00

Well, my next day in Salzburg was pretty uneventful. I had three things I wanted to do: See the trick fountains, go to the top of the castle, and see the Glockenspiel. None of those things really happened.

I started off the day getting some food from the grocery store, and ran into some guys with fraternity letters on, so I knew that they were from the states. We talked for a while and then they decided to join me to get food from the market. They had already been to the top of the castle that day, so I asked if they wanted to see the trick fountains. It appeared generally close on the map so we headed out there. Unfortunately we found that the icon on the map was an arrow pointing 4km off of the map. We had already walked a ways to the icon, so we decided to forget the whole idea anyways.

I decided that I was going to get something to eat and then take a nap before I tackled the castle, and once I woke up I felt a little too tired to go all the way up there, so I took a walk to find the Glockenspiel to see if I could gather enough energy. I walked around trying to find it, but I didn't exactly know what it looked like and there were a million different clocks all throughout the city, so trying to find which one was the right one was a difficult task, especially when they were all ringing at once and echoing all over the city. But I think I found it. Also, they have temporarily commercialized the crap out of Salzburg for the EuroCup, so it took away from a lot of the beauty.

I never did muster up the energy to get to the top (I think they closed it regardless). I retired back to the hostel and ate dinner and watched the Sound of Music, which ran continuously all day...

The next day I began my voyage into Bled, Slovenia, which is supposed to be gorgeous. It rained all the way there, so I didn't have a great feeling about it. I almost missed my stop and jumped off the train while it was moving, so that was a little scary. Some guys at the station were laughing at me because it was so close. About that - the Slovenian people are the nicest I have met so far. The guys that were laughing asked me about my trip and wished me a good time, while the lady at the ticket desk gave me her cell phone to call the hostel to pick me up. A lady in the grocery store even left the store to point me to the nearest ATM...

An old guy in a van came to pick me up, and he seemed really helpful and experienced in the English language. Unfortunately neither of these things turned out to be true. He pick up some other guests from the lake after getting me, and we all headed back to the hostel to eat some homemade Slovenian food prepared by his wife. The hostel was a big house, and he lived in one half while we lived in the other. The basement was the kitchen, lounge and dining room for the guests.

The first night we had seven - two Americans, an Australian couple, two Australian sisters and myself. We had a good time just eating and talking into the night.

The next day I decided to go to Bled Lake and Vintgar Gorge with the American girls. They had both graduated college a year or two ago, and one of them was on a seven month trip. The gorge was really amazing. The water was a beautiful green color, and there were a lot of waterfalls and cool little areas to check out while you walked across a wooden walkway stretching down the entire gorge.

After the gorge, we walked through a small town to get to the lake itself, and got to see some everyday Slovenian neighborhoods and villages. The hike also included a stop off at Bled Castle, which overlooks the lake on a craggy peak. Apparently there are a lot of things you can't do here.

When we got to the lake, we got some lunch and then started the 6km journey around the lake. We took our time, and Katie even decided to go swimming for a while. The lake is fed by hot springs, so the water was surprisingly warm. I also got attacked by a swam while sitting on the dock. There's a great picture of it but it wasn't taken with my camera so I don't have it yet.

After we finished our walk around the lake we got picked up by the old man (named Damien) and headed back to our hostel for dinner. I really think that Damien is going senile, as the night before he got into a big argument with the sisters (Lisa and Jenny) because he charged them for nine beers when they only had had three. The hostel also advertised free internet, and it never worked for the entirety being there. He pretty much would answer you with "is no problem" whenever you asked to get it fixed, so we never really got anywhere with that. "Is OK" was also a big part of his vocab. A lot of times he would just hum like three little notes out loud and then look around like he was confused, and then find something to do. There was one time when I was about two minutes late for the shuttle and he got upset and told the girls to get me. When I came down and got in the car, he just stood outside for about three minutes scratching his head and looking around. Quite a character.

I would have a picture of him, but I ran into some serious crap the next day. I decided to spend the day at Lake Bonhinj, which is a larger, but more serene lake. When I got off the bus, it was pouring rain. I walked to the tourist info placed and asked the guy if there were any good hikes, and he said that the hike around the lake was about 3km. I decided that it was doable in the rain (which had slightly subsided) so I put my camera and cell phone in one of the deep pockets to keep dry and headed off.

The first part of the walk was really nice. The fog drifted down onto the pines and it made for some really good scenery. I didn't know this at first, but the lake is really narrow and curvy, and it seemed like I had been walking way more than 3km when I found out from a couple that it was actually 8 miles around. This was a bit discouraging because I was beginning to get really wet, and I had really had enough of hiking around in the rain. I was right near the half way point when I decided to take a look at my camera and see if it was dry. Unfortunately it wasn't. I started freaking out because I was at least a forty minutes from a dry place and had no where dry to put it. I grabbed my cellphone to look for the time and found out that it had also been drenched, and was now off with no chance of coming back on.

This is when I got a little upset.

I walked as fast as I could to the rest area, where I just made a bus back to Bled. I didn't care about the rest of the hike or how much it cost - my camera was in jeopardy. I got back to bled and found a dry place to dry it off, and then bought a bag of rice to stick them both in (its a trick I read on the internet for drying off electronics). It was still pouring rain and the shuttle didnt come back until 6, so I spent a good hour just sitting under an umbrella until I got too annoyed and called Damien to pick me up.

"I am busy now but is a no problem. I come for you now at bus station."

So I hurried to the bus station and waited, and waited and waited: until six (two hours later). When he pulled up I asked him what happened to four o´clock.

"I was in Jevenica and it was far from here. Is a no problem"

Actually it WAS a problem, but I only had one night and trying to argue would have been pointless. When I got back all I wanted was a hot shower, but the water had not been working in my bathroom for 2 days. Every time I would ask him we would tell me to "wait a ten minutes and is OK". When I returned to the hostel and the hot water ran out in thirty seconds, I wrapped a towel around me and went straight down to the girls shower, who had hot water. Luckily I was able to relax and warm up after a pretty crappy day. When I told him about it, he said he would "look into it soon, is OK?".

Because we are far from the train station, I couldn't take the early train out to Zagreb in order to get to Dubrovnik in time, so now I have to take the night train tonight and push all my reservations a day forward. If I was at another hostel, I could've nabbed the 7 AM train and had no problem. He dropped me off today at the train station and now I am in the capital (Ljubljana - pronounced Loob-lana) writing this. Its been raining all day and I'm not about to have a repeat of yesterday.

With the camera and cell phone: Both of them kind of worked this morning. They didn't short out and break permanently, so I decided two more days of the rice bag should fix them completely. The screen is pretty foggy right now so I hope I don't have a repeat of last year... At least my photos are safe.

Well, Ive got to go. Still cant find a place to upload photos...I'm trying.

Hallstatt

2008-06-02T05:53:00.003+10:00

Well, all the guides I read told me not to arrive in Hallstatt after 5:30...Well, I had no choice since I was coming from Prague. The only way to get to Hallstatt from the train station is to take the ferry over, and it stops running at 6:00. As I flew by the station at about ten o'clock, I wondered just how I would get into Hallstatt - a small lakeside town where I had no reservations whatsoever.

I got off at the next station and asked the station manager how to get to Hallstatt. He said the only way was a taxi. So he called up a taxi (that cost me ten euros) and I arrived in Hallstatt - the smallest city I have been to in Europe. I hadn't eaten all day except for a piece of bread, and I was starving. I went out looking for food, and the only thing that was open was a really expensive cafe. I walked back and forth all over town for an hour looking for a restaurant or a cafe, and nothing was open. I decided that I wasn't going to go to bed without food or checking the internet, because I had to satisfy one of those needs before I could sleep. The internet cafe was a euro ($1.60) for SIX MINUTES. He told me I could do a half an hour for five euros, and I still fail to see how that's a deal...

Unfortunately, I went to bed without checking the internet or eating...It was a very bad night indeed.

The next morning I went out to the grocery mart and bought some fresh cheese and rolls and filled my empty stomach. I also found an outdoor bar which had internet for a euro a half an hour...My necessities were met...I could now appreciate the town for all its beauty.

Hallstatt really rivals Interlaken for its beauty. The town's history goes back to 5,000 BC. Ever since then it has been a major salt producer. There's even a period of European history called the "Hallstatt Period". A big waterfall runs right through the city, and the houses are stacked right on top of each other, because its built right up on a cliff. It's probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. Every day gives you a different perspective on the city.

After getting something to eat, I walked up a trail that led to a gazeebo that looked over the entire town. I brought my guitar and just chilled up there for a few hours. I walked over to the waterfall for a while and checked that out as well. When I came back to the hostel I met a guy named Dallas from Australia and a guy named Matt from the States. We talked about traveling until pretty late in the night, and I was glad to interact with some people. The first morning in Hallstatt was really lonely. Not even the owner was around. They were supposed to offer breakfast, but I couldnt find it, let alone ONE PERSON in the hostel.

The next day, Matt and I decided to hike up to the top of the mountain where the salt mines are located. You can go into the mines, but it was really expensive. So instead we just hiked the other side of the trail down. Unlike last trip I have no money at all. Basically everything is being charged. Not a good strategy, but I figure that I'll never regret what I'm doing right now, so I don't mind paying a few hundred extra in interest charges...

We got to the top and coincidentally found Dallas up there as well. The overlooking bridge offered a great view of the entire lake.

After hiking back down, I took a huge nap and afterwards Matt offered to take me out to dinner. He graduated from college a year ago, and has been working as a waiter for a year to pay for the trip. He felt bad because I had no money, and took me out to dinner. It was really, really nice of him, and I hope someday to so the same for a poor traveler like myself. After that we met up with Dallas at the waterfront, and relaxed and talked for the rest of the night.

Earlier that day we had heard a siren and saw a helicopter flying above the lake, and we had wondered what the commotion was all about. While talking with Dallas, he told us that the helicopter had landed on the grassy inlet where tourists went swimming, and had unloaded a dead body from the mountain top in front of everybody. Apparently he had been climbing/skiing and had fallen to his death. A nice compliment to my visit, no?

The next morning I said my goodbyes to Matt and Dallas, and took the ferry over to the train station. The ride over had some really great views of Hallstatt.

I met a couple from San Fransisco on the way over, and they had actually lived in the Silver Spring/Rockville area thirty years ago. We talked a lot about travelling and life, and they volunteered their home to me anytime I was in San Fransisco or Bulgaria (since they have a house there - that's where the wife was from). We took the train together all the way to Salzburg together, and then parted ways.

I spent the day exploring Salzburg, and to be honest, it's not the greatest. The mountains and the fortress are nice, but after Hallstatt, it's just not as great. I will probably spend the day up at Hitler's Eagles Nest tomorrow. It's a lot of money, but I hope it will be worth it.

Tonight a guy from Wales let me use his laptop for a while, so I got free internet. I was listening to music on YouTube until a roomate came in, so now I'm in the laundry room listening to Lil Wayne and writing this. Good times.

I guess this means I am all caught up. I'm going to bed soon - I have one more night and then I'm off to Bled, Slovenia. It may sound sketchy, but wait till you see pictures...It'll blow your mind.

Until then...

Prague Continued

2008-06-02T00:00:00.003+10:00

Pictures will be up soon...

Well, the next day I ventured back into Prague with Graham and Annie. After crossing the river, we stumbled on to the Czech Senate, which had a really cool garden and a creepy-looking wall.

We pretty much agreed that we were going to spend the majority of the day checking out Prague Castle, which has been around for thousands and thousands of years. We splurged on the "all inclusive ticket" which included the crown jewels, the crypt and the movie. Guess what was closed? The crown jewels, the crypt, and the movie. We did get to walk around St. Vitus Cathedral, which is possibly the most impressive cathedral I have ever seen. We wanted to go up into one of the towers, but we were warned about the 283 steps it would take to get there. We didnt think it would be that bad, and it was pretty terrible. The stench of greasy adolescents on field-trips was wafting through the crammed spiraling staircase the entire time, and walking in a circle up the stairs for ten minutes in the heat can be dizzying. The top did provide for some excellent views of Prague city though.

We looked through a few museums too, one of which had a picture of Maximillian the Thirds first and second wife. I think he downgraded with the second, what do you think?

The three of us decided we would eat lunch somewhere close to the castle, and decided upon some little restuarant with pretzels hanging all around the outside. When we walked in, we asked for a menu, which promptly got us soup and bread instead. We asked again for a menu, and this time he brough it out. Now I had read about how waiters will bring you food that you think is free, and then when you eat it, they charge you a huge price. So I was naturally cautious and asked in Czech how much everything cost. The waiter all of a sudden acted extremeley offended, and shoved three fingers in front of me and said three words in Czech. This didnt help. After he left, we figured that when we said "menu", he thought we meant the main course. When you ask for the menu in the Czech Republic, it is often times another word for the main course (soup, goulash and something else - usually a desert). So we figured that the bread and soup were the first two parts of the meal, and that they would be safe to eat.

When we received the dessert, I got a little worried. I knew something was going to cost us. After we finished, he gave us the bill: 1,000 crowns. About $65. I asked him what cost 220, and he again said something in Czech I didnt understand, and pointed to the menu. We figured out that it was 75 for the beer, 585 for the "menu", about 170 for tax (we think?) and 220 for the dry friggin´ bread I didnt even eat. 220 is about $17. We eventually knew that we had lost, and we left pretty upset we had just wasted that much money.

It was curious that the signs outside were all bi-lingual, but inside no one spoke a word of English. I dont expect them to, but it seemed fishy - Especially when I heard another waiter (although we were the only ones in there) speak English very well. The whole place gave us a weird vibe, and we thought that any second it would turn into a Czech butchers market (not really, but it was funny to imagine it).

At the very least, the "no smoking opium" signs and the whole experience with the two of them made for a good story. We all agreed on that.

Graham and Annie were both headed to Vienna, and I had to go there too in order to get to Hallstatt. We just made the train to Brno, and then took the train to Vienna. They had a friend they were staying with in Vienna, so I took a train to Attnang-Pucheim.

While on that train I met a girl named Suzannah. A lot of you think I am crazy for taking months off at a time and travelling Europe, but she really puts me to shame. She graduated high school, got into Stanford, but then took a year off to travel and work in Europe. Through a series of odd jobs, she now works teaching English to the Princess of Austria`s children. She`s been travelling and living in Europe by herself for almost a year now. Don`t ask me how she did that. I got off at Attnang while she continued on to Salzburg to join the kids on a mini-vacation.

My last train ride was from Attnang to Hallstatt. The ride is nearly two hours, but once I entered to Salzgammergut region, the terrain made the last two of the tweleve hour journey bearable. I just stood up and stuck my head out the window for the majority of the ride. With all that mountain air, it was great to be back in the Alps.

I´ll tell you about Hallstatt next time. My hour is almost up....

Prague

2008-05-28T19:39:00.003+10:00

I'll admit that my first impression of Prague wasn't the greatest. Lines of XXX stores, mini-casinos and tabak stores (super-mini convenient marts) filled the streets. But I'm staying on the outskirts, and that's to be expected. It actually has its own unique charm to it once you get settled.

After adventuring down into the heart of Prague, it's one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. The architecture is incredible - and old. There really are not many cities in Europe that have survived multiple wars unscathed. The towers in Prague are ancient. Also, Prague has more tourists than any other city I have ever been to except Paris. It's wild how many people come here. One can see why though, Prague is overwhelmingly pretty.

I had some trouble the first day adjusting to the time difference. I took multiple naps throughout the day, and it earned me the name "sleep-face" from some guys from London. I didn't really do much except get my pack organized and relax. There's a really cool bar in the hostel, so I spent the beginning of my night meeting and hanging out with over travelers. After a while some of us decided to go check out Prague's nightlife and had a pretty good night even though it was a Monday. I was mostly with English guys and they were doing a great job of being English - drunk and obnoxious. Not to slam the English, but they're terrible drunks.

When I travel, there's a certain acclimation procedure I go through in every city. When I first arrive, finding the hostel is a nightmare. I hate having my backpack on - it's an instant attention grabber and you look like a huge tourist. I don't like to stand out when I travel. It's always best to blend in. Once I get to the hostel I'll half unpack and check the city out. I won't search out any major sights - I just do it to get an overall feel for how the city works. The next day is the major travel day. I usually go alone for this. I get everything organized and cleaned up, and then leave the hostel with nothing but my camera, cash and a map. The feeling of walking out of the hostel with both arms free is incredible liberating. Your senses are heightened, and you subconsciously start to blend in with the people. My biggest goal is not to look like a tourist but take in as much as I can. As I start to enter the heart of the city (and therefore the tourism district), this feeling starts to decline. The culture begins to fade. I start feeling too comfortable and my senses are lowered. It's like you enter a safety nets of sorts that allows for mistakes. Once I enter tourist areas, I often bump into things, become disorientated, etc. It's funny - that rarely happens outside the center of a city.

Today is the third day, and it's more of a sight-seeing day with people I have met. I've got a handle on the city and now I feel free to go to specific places with comfort.

Yesterday was a big day. Prague is divided by a river, and I spent my time on the east side seeing a bunch of sights such as the astronomical clock and some old towers. I don't remember the official names of everything so bear with me.

I went as far as Charles Bridge, which offers an amazing view of the other side of town and the Prague Castle. Yesterday and today are both beautiful days. I also checked out the Jewish Quarter, which at one time was an extremely overpopulated ghetto. The cemetery there holds over 10,000 graves, and even though the ghetto was destroyed in the 19th century, the graves are a reminder of the vast overcrowding. You weren't allowed to take pictures (you risk a 40 czk fine), but I paid 200 czk ($14) to see it, so I took as many as I felt like taking. Take that, Prague.

I also had a traditional Czech meal for lunch - pork shoulder, dumplings and stewed sour kraut. To be honest, it wasn't that great and it made me really, really thirsty. When you order a soda in Europe, you get one glass with no ice and no refills. It's tough nursing a coke when you're used to drinking about three when you go to a restaurant in the US.

After returning from a day weaving in and out of tourists, I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hostel bar, chilling with other travelers. I met a really cool couple named Graham and Annie from the University of Chicago, and we talked late into the night. Today we're going to check out the rest of the city together and will probably stay in the city until sundown. Prague at night supposed to be spectacular.

I'll get pictures up soon. Time to be off.

Arrival In Prague

2008-05-26T23:22:00.003+10:00

I'm back in Europe for part two.

The flight(s) were terrible. Not that they were bad flights, but I had a nine hour lay over and two connecting flights meaning I had to go through customs and security a a million times, and I traveled for about 24 hours straight.

I almost missed my flight in Frankfurt because the passport check line was so long. I had to run through the airport which nearly killed me after sitting for so long.

But I did make it to Prague, and I'm sitting in my hostel now thinking about where I'm going to get my food from. It's a much different transition than last year. College has accustomed me to food whenever I want it, privacy whenever I need it, and friends whenever I want them. Although I'm nowhere near a culture-shocked as I was last year, this makes up for it. The thought of going out and finding food is much more daunting than I remember. At least everything is cheaper here.

My hostel is pretty crazy. I'm in a room with about 20 other people with 3 different levels of bunks. The moment I walk in a girl started telling someone about "a girl with blonde dreads who has having sex last night and then peed all over someones luggage drunk afterwards".

Ahh, the hostel life.

I haven't ventured much because I have been so tired. I slept for a few hours as soon as I got here. Alright, I'm going to go find some food in this city.

Itinerary for Trip

2008-05-17T11:14:00.003+10:00

Well, I've been working on my trip, and unlike last year (and in order to save money) I've pretty much laid out the entire thing.

May 25 - Depart from BWI
May 26 - 29: Prague, Czech Republic
May 29 - June 1: Hallstatt, Austria
June 1 - 3: Salzburg, Austia
June 3 - 6: Bled, Slovenia
June 6 - 9: Dubrovnik, Croatia
June 9 - 10: Plitvice, Croatia
June 10 - 12: Zagreb, Croatia
June 12 - 15: Budapest, Hungary
June 15 - 17: Eger, Hungary
June 17 -18: Vienna, Austria
June 18 - 22: Athens, Greece
June 23: Prague, Return Home

Europe 2008

2008-01-26T06:47:00.003+11:00

Well, I wasn't kidding when I told you I would see you next year.

It's all confirmed: I will be returning to Europe on the 26th of May. I fly into Prague and will be visiting the following countries (give or take):

Czech Republic
Poland
Austria
Croatia
Serbia
Hungary

I will be gone for 4 weeks and will be returning on the 21st of June. Of course, I will be keeping you all updated along the way.

So now it's time to make some money and read some guide books.

See you in May!

Back to London: The End

2007-08-13T15:28:00.003+10:00

And so I have returned to London.

I arrived after traveling all day from Belgium, and got some Chinese food before I celebrated my "last" night in Europe with some people I met out on the roof picnic area.

The next morning I awoke quite late and made my way down to the Globe Theatre to see when the next show was. The Globe Theatre is an outdoor theatre just like the ones used when Shakespeare was writing his plays. There is no amplification and only a little light for when the sun goes down, so it might as well have been four hundred years ago. I got there and they told me to come back around five to wait in line for no-shows, so I went off exploring until then.

My original plan was to see a play at the Globe that day and then see a show on the West End later that night, but after walking all the way to Leichester Square (where they sell half-price tickets) I found out that unlike New York, there are no shows on Sunday. I was a little dissapointed, but I figured I would just go to see Othello at the Globe that night at 6:30.

Before I went to go wait, I wandered around some more and realized how many interesting places I had missed my first time in London. Looking back, I really had no idea what I was doing my first week, so I can forgive myself. But that doesn't mean I wasn't dissapointed when I found the Tate Modern, National Film Museum, Prison Museum and the Theatre Museum all closed on a Sunday.

I eventually got back in line and while I was waiting a woman came out of nowhere and asked if anyone needed a £5 standing ticket. She was asking somenoe else, but I just shouted "I'll take it" and she gave it to me.

The show was awesome. I have never been so entertained by Shakespeare. The acting was brilliant. These people were definately some of the best theatre actors in the world, and it was really a great experience seeing it up close in such an intimate setting. At time during the performance, actors would run through the crowd (the theatre is primarily standing-only) and push you out of the way to get on stage. Sometimes they would be carrying lit torches or have their swords drawn, and it just added to the excitement. It was a little tough standing for 3 and a half hours, though. The girl next to me almost fainted and she had to sit down for about ten minutes. I think the only bad part of the show was when I got a hotdog at intermission. I bought it and piled a bunch of yellow mustard on it, thinking it was just normal mustard. When I got back to where I was standing and took a bite though I almost puked. The mustard was really, really spicy. And not like pepper-spicy, I mean wasabi-spicy. The kind that burns your sinuses instead of your tongue, and I had piled it on. I ended up wiping it off with a napkin and making a huge mess because there was no way I was throwing away a £5 hotdog.

After the show, I walked down the River Thames back to my hostel and got Chinese food again. I picked a bad place to splurge, though. It's more expensive in London than anywhere else in the world. Minimum wage here is £5.25. In America it's $5.35. One pound equals two dollars. See the problem?

I woke up this morning and went to get on the bus, and I met two girls that were waiting in the lobby. I told them as I left that if they needed a place to sleep, my key opened up room 11. They said that they needed to get to Heathrow instead, so we ended up splitting a cab to get to Paddington Station where a train took us directly to Heathrow. It's a long story that's not worth telling, but they helped me avoid a lot of stress and headache in the long run.

And so now I am here, sitting in a deserted room in Heathrow Airport, paying a copius sum for a few minutes of internet. As I look back on my trip and think about everything I have done, seen and experience it almost seems like it is too much. Like I'll never really be able to comprehend my entire trips. The memories I've made, places I've seen, people I've met - it all seems overwhelming. Kind of like when your life flashes before your eyes, and all you see it countless good and bad memories, all flowing at once without any order or pattern. I may be saying too much to get a simple point across, so what I really am trying to say is that this trip has been amazing. Just amazing. That's all I can really say.

So I guess I will leave everyone with a sort of "top ten". I've been thinking about this for a while, so here it goes...

10. Berlin in general
9. Drinking in the Delirium Cafe in Brussels and reuniting with Klara and Elli
8. Night out in Dusseldorf with Stefan and his friends
7. First night in Nice hanging out with the Italian girls
6. My day in Vondelpark
5. First night out with the Swiss guys in Stockholm
4. Watching the sunset over Paris on the Butte Montemarte
3. Italian dinner in Napoli when we were treated with wine and mussels
2. Watching the sun rise with a Swedish girl in Stockholm
1. Canyoning in Interlaken

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog over the last two months. It's been a great encouragement to read your comments and to know that people are interesting in what I am doing. There are so many other stories I haven't told; a lot of smaller stories that really made the trip unique that I just didn't have time to talk about, so make sure you talk to me about my trip when I get back! I'd love to tell you more about it.

Until next year... ;)

Brussels and Antwerp

2007-08-11T18:02:00.003+10:00

Below this is the post about Amsterdam, and below that pictures are up for Copenhagen and Stockholm. Check 'em all out!

If you read back to the Paris entry, perhaps you will remember two girls I met in Paris named Elli and Klara (Klara gave me the tour of paris and the three of us went to the top of the hill overlooking all of Paris). Before I left Klara offered to give me a bed if I was ever in their area. Well, I took up Klara's offer and met her in Antwerp for a two day mega-tour of Brussels and Antwerp.

The trains were a bit screwed up at first, but I eventually did find her at the station. She told me that she could tell pretty quick that I was different that when I was in Paris. "I think your energy is gone, Mr. Rickenbach" Indeed. After almost seven weeks of traveling, I think I am ready to pass out. Nevertheless, she took me on a two hour walking tour over all of Antwerp at night. They have some really cool statues, including one of a man who killed a giant by throwing a human hand at him (ask me for the history of this - I have been educated in this matter). The city was really nice at night, but I was really tired and ready to go to bed, so we headed back.

Her parents were having some people over, but they were leaving as I arrived. Luckily for me, they had quite a bit of leftover paella, so I was able to fill my stomach before eventually drifting off to bed in her brother's old room.

The next morning we set out for Brussels. I told Klara I wanted three things that I believed to be exclusively Belgian: french fries (go figure), mussels and waffles. As long as I could consume those three foods during my stay in Belgium, my trip would be complete. The paella had mussels in it, so I was already way ahead of the curve when we went to Brussels. Her parents were working, so we took bicycles to the local trains station (the town of St. Niklaas, by the way). Apparently a lot of people ride bikes here.

We arrived in Brussels and spent the next few hours exploring the city. Everything from the town hall to the Palais du Justice to the little boy peeing - we saw it all. The most beautiful section of Brussels had to be the city square where the town hall was. It was really great.

We had worked up quite an appetite walking around, so we went to get some Belgian fries and nasty microwaved meat from a small diner type place. After eating solid grease and having a discussion about Belgian politics in french with the cook (I was really not a part of this at all), Klara took me to Delirium Cafe, a place that prides itself on serving over 2,004 different kinds of beer. We had a pretty good time there and we met some girls from Spain. I tried practicing my Spanish with them, but I didn't go that well. They told me it was good, but looking back, I'm not so sure. I was believing anything the gorgeous brunette was telling me at that point...

Elli gave us a call at that point and told us to meet her in fifteen minutes. Neither of us had seen her since Paris, so we were both excited to meet again. After a farewell to the Spanish girls (my low point of the night) we went out to meet Elli. Sure enough, she found us and we had a pretty good time just talking and laughing for a while. The best part was that we met right next to a van selling waffles (it's not as shady as it sounds, believe me). I ordered a "Banana Split Waffle" (or so I thought...it was in French) but to my horror I recieved a plain old banana split with a stupid little wafer waffle stuck on it. I couldn't believe it. I used up my last bit of pocket change for some crappy sundae. I HATE SUNDAES! Luckily there was an American behind me in line and I offered him 1.50 for it (a steal since it was 3.20). He bit and I got a nice crispy waffle glazed in caramel when I went back. My dining experience in Belgium was now complete. Turns out he was an under cover cop in NYC and had been to a few Maryland football games before.

We had to take the train back so our reunion with Elli was short-lived. We had some confusion when we got to the station because we thought that we had missed the last train to St. Niklaas and that her parents would have to pick us up from Antwerp, but it was not the case and we got to the station in time to ride our bikes through the country-side at night before completely passing out after such an exhausting day. The bike ride at night was really beautiful, though. The area is really flat so the sky was enormous.

Well, and that leaves me here, updating my blog on a sleepy Saturday morning. Back to London today!

But before I go, I must leave you with one interesting thing that falls off the list of most tourists. Everyone, and I mean everyone, goes to see that peeing boy...But how many have seen the peeing girl? Count me in for that one.

Bremen and Amsterdam

2007-08-10T08:42:00.003+10:00

I stayed a night in Bremen because the journey from Stockholm from Amsterdam could not be done in one day. However long it was though, the ferry from Denmark to Germany had a beautiful sunset. I had trouble finding the hostel, and I again had to walk past numerous sex shops to get to it. Why is this always the case?

I shared an 8 person room with a fifty something year old who was ironing his jeans when I walked in. He seemed like a very nice man, but for the first time during my trip I was actually scared he was going to stab me to death in the night. He was in one section of the room and I was in the other, and all I could hear was him packing, changing, and then closing and locking the door and going through his bag (for the knife, I was sure). I'm not sure why I had such an irrational fear, but before I had any time to really worry I fell asleep. Oops.

I awoke in the morning to him scurrying around yelling "Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße!", so he must have been late for something.

On my way to Amsterdam I met some nice people from Florida and New York. The girl in this photo was staying at the same hostel I was, so we went out with the girl in this picture for dinner at an Indian restaurant and then went out and got some coffee afterwards (the guys in the photo were meeting some friends of their own).

The next day I was so tired from travelling I spent the majority of the day in Vondelpark, wandering around. Vondelpark is a giant park right near my hostel and it's full of different kinds of birds and flowers and landscapes. You can really spend an afternoon there checking out all of the nooks and crannies of the park. Out of all the cities I have heard about, Amsterdam is the most talked about. People always have an opinion about the city (it's hard not to when prostitution and weed is legal), so I was very anxious to see how I felt about it myself. People either love it or hate it (kind of like Napoli).

After going to the park I did all my laundry and hung it out around my bed to dry. You get pretty creative with laundry when you are on the road for so long...

The next day I met my friend Dieuwer in the city. Dieuwer and I used to play videogames with eachother online back when I was much younger, and since then we have become good friends. I told him I was in Holland and we thought it would be cool to meet up in Amsterdam and then spend the night at his family's house in Groningen.

We drove around for a while looking for parking until we found a place to stop so we could look at a map. We kind of lost track of time while looking at the map/talking and when we went to start the car back up again, the battery was dead.

We walked around for a while, looking for a door to knock on or someone to talk to to see if they have jumper cables. We asked someone in the street and she pointed us to a woman who had her door open. So we went over to her and asked her if she had cables, but she was really, really suspicious of us and told us to go find a garage. So we went and found a garage, but they were going to charge us twenty five freakin' euros to walk down the street and start a car.

Before all hope was lost and we broke down and paid the money, Dieuwer remembered that he had his dad's service card (like AAA). We called them and they arrived within twenty minutes and charged the battery, allowing us to continue our original quest of finding a parking garage.

We eventually did find one and then headed to the Anne Frank House. It was across the entire city center, so we did get to see a lot of Amsterdam. With all of its canals and houseboats, I think it's one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. I didn't get that close to the Red Light District, so I didn't get a chance to see all the trash and drug use people talk about, so from what I saw it was very nice.

Anne Frank house was pretty neat. We had to wait in a giant line for about forty minutes, but the inside was extremely interesting, if not creepy at times. I have only read half of her diary, so I think I will reread it again when I have the chance. It makes it a lot more exciting if you have actually been there.

After visiting the house, we decided we had had enough of Amsterdam and that it was time to make the drive to Groningen. Driving along the country side in Holland was really nice. Plus, he had an MP3 player so I could hear some familiar music I like, and believe me, that is a luxury.

We got to his house (a renovated two hundred and fifty year old farmhouse!) and fooled around on some guitars and computers before heading to bed. The next morning we packed my stuff in the car and I said goodbye to his parents and the two biggest dogs I have ever seen. (So on this trip I have seen the biggest lips ever and the biggest dogs ever) We headed out to the city center of Groningen and just browsed around for a few hours and also went up to the top of a church steeple that provided a great view.

Shortly after I hopped on the train to meet another friend in Belgium...

Stockholm

2007-08-03T22:29:00.003+10:00

Everything you have heard about the women in Sweden is true. Everything.

Never, ever, ever have I seen such a concentration of gorgeous women in my life. Sitting in the station in either Copenhagen or in Sweden will provide you with hours of quality entertainment as you watch solid tens walk by.

Now that that has been said, I will tell you a little bit of what happened in Stockholm...

When I arrived at my hostel, a conversation took place that went something like this:

Hostel Guy: So are you hear for Pride?
Me: For what?
Hostel Guy: Gay Pride weekend is this weekend in Stockholm. That's why all the hostels are full.

(At this point a man dressed as Zorro with leather chaps walks by - No joke)

Me: Oh. Well....Alright. Ummm.
Hostel Guy: Anyways, here's your key.

Soon after that I met some folks from Germany who had completed their planned camping trip early and decided to spend their remaining time in Stockholm. After eating dinner at the hostel we all went out and walked around the city at night. Stockholm has a lot of bridges and islands, so at night it's really a sight to see.

The next day I slept in really late. Not sure why, but maybe it had something to do with the continously bad weather. I was planning on going to the Vasa Museum - a large museum dedicated to the Swedish ship that sank 400 years ago, but by the time I got up and took the metro and the ferry to the island, there were only two hours left and a massive line to get in. So I wandered around the Island, checking out a cool park and the Nordic Museum instead. I also found an aquarium with a really cool entrance. That entrance alone enticed me to spend over an hour inside looking at their fake rain forest (complete with fake rain).

When I got back to the hostel I met up with my roomates (three guys from Switzerland) who were planning to go out that night, so I decided to join them. After eating some dinner (one of them is a chef) we pre-gamed in the room, sang a rousing version of "Ob-la-di-Ob-la-da" and then headed out for quite a night. Sometime during the night I gave them my key (I still don't know why) and we got seperated, so I ended up locked out of the hostel at 7 in the morning, ringing the doorbell incessantly in hopes that someone would get up and let me in. A guy around the age of 65 walking past in the street did notice my situation, and offered to give me a hand.

Guy: Are you locked out?
Me: Yeah, I don´t have my key.
Guy: Are you here for the festival?
Me: (Far too rudely...I regret it) NO. No, I'm just...here.
Guy: Hmmm, well, let me see.

So he starts pressing the doorbell (like I had not thought of this already) and then jamming random buttons on the keypad in hopes that it would just open itself up if he continued to jam the numbers 2, 7 and the "#" symbol. He realized after about two good minutes of pressing random buttons that it wasn't going to work and then invited me for coffee. I told him it would be better for me to keep trying then to stay up another four hours until reception arrived, and he turned to leave, apparently insulted. I thought he was gone until I heard a voice from down the street.

"I am gay"

At this I just slowly turn my head to the side and wait for him to say something else.

"And I'm old so I have no interest in you. I just was offering you some coffee because you have a very long time to wait. I hope you survive."

I'm a little stunned at this, because when I told him I think it would be better if I stayed and waited I never even considered he was gay. So I kind of mutter a feeble "OK, well thanks man" and resume my door-bell ringing. Two minutes later, someone opens up.

The next morning I get up to go to the Vasa Museum, but as I am walking there I noticed that the streets were blocked off and people were crowded all over the place, waiting. I asked someone what the deal was and they told me.

How could I have forgotten so quickly? The gay pride parade. Always good for a laugh and can provide hours of entertainment. But I wouldn't have time for both. I would either have to watch the gay pride parade or go see the Vasa. Culture vs. Entertainment. After a half an hour of debating with myself, the Vasa won out.

The museum was great. In case you don't know the story of the Vasa, you can read about it here. It's better than reading me ramble on about it. It was tough to take good pictures because it's so big and you're so close, but I did manage to take a few.

I went out that night again with the Swiss guys and ended up watching the sun rise over Stockholm with a Swedish girl named Sandra. I didn't have time to enjoy the sunrise or her company for much longer though because my train left at ten. So I said goodbye to Sandra and to Stockholm and began my travelling marathon to Amsterdam a few hours later.

Køpenhavn

2007-08-01T19:27:00.003+10:00

I arrived in Copenhagen that evening and met Erik Wasli, Eric's first cousin, at the platform. Luckily I had sent him a few pictures and I had done some research online, so we both vaguely knew what eachother looked like. They only lived a short bit from the train station, so it was pretty conveniant.

That evening we talked over coffee and tea, and I went to bed pretty early. Erik is a psychotherapist and he has an office down in the basement, complete with it's own bed.The next morning we all went out and saw the Copenhagen City Museum (which they had never been to). It was full of typical things Danes used throughout history ´(tools, plates, etc.) as well as the history of the city. It had quite a nice ballroom at the top, too. (Erik is waving)

Apparently Denmark has been having very poor weather for the last few weeks. Rain, rain and more rain. It was no different that day, so they let me borrow a rain jacket so I didn't walk around in a giant poncho looking like a fool the entire day. After the museum we climbed up the large tower that Christian IV (probably the most famous Dane ever) built. The passageway that winded up the tower was wide enough that he could ride his chariot up to the top. From the top of the tower, even though it was raining, you could get a pretty good view of Copenhagen. If you'll notice, there are not a lot of sky scrapers in Copenhagen. The city is mostly against them in order to preserve the uniqueness of the town. After all the sightseeing we got some lunch at one of Erik's favorite places to eat.

We wandered around the city for a little while and stopped at a few stores before deciding to head back. That night we had good dinner (pasta with feta cheese, olives and pesto) and settled in to watch "MASH".

The next day, it was raining quite a bit but it stopped and Kare, Bjarke and I went on a bike ride to the Open Air Museum - a museum consisting of several types of old Danish houses and exhibitions on how they lived. Surrounding the houses were nice fields and farms, so it seemed like you had traveled straight into the Danish country side. I couldn't resist the urge to join in on some old school Danish recreation.

After the bike ride we had some hot tea (it's pretty cold here) and hung around the house for the rest of the night. We had steak and potatoes for dinner and afterward watched "A Fist Full of Dynamite". As you can see, it was a pretty relaxed visit to Denmark.

The next morning we had some real Danish pastry (so I can tell you all how good it is when I get back) and I went and got my haircut...It was getting really bad. After that I went with Erik and Bjarke to visit Miriam (Arne's sister). She had tea, cookies, cake and sandwiches all laid out for us. We talked about my trip for some time before it was time to go meet Kare, Molly and her youngest child at Tivoli Gardens - Copenhagen's famous theme park right in the middle of town.

Kare bought Bjarke and I an unlimited ride pass, so we went on all of the rides there (well, most of them at least). After riding them, we went and got some Chinese food at the Chinese Tower and then relaxed outside at a tea house and listened to the live music (it was Greenland weekend at Tivoli, so it was all Greenlandish music...if that's even a word I don't know) until the park closed.

The next morning I caught a train to Stockholm after saying farewell and many thank yous to the Wasli family across the pond. Their hospitality made me feel right at home.

Sorry this post wasn't as entertaining as the last. Writing that last one took a lot of writing energy out of me. Maybe something extraordinary will happen in Stockholm.

Train to Køpenhavn

2007-07-31T20:52:00.003+10:00

As you can see, I like being able to spell the local spelling. It makes me happy.

Anyways, I left Berlin mid-afternoon to make my way to Copenhagen. I had a stop over in Hamburg, and it presented me with an excellent way to illustrate a bit of what you sometimes experience on trains.

When people buy a ticket, they really only buy passage on the train. They are not always guaranteed a seat. The same goes for me. Since I have an unlimited pass, it does not always mean I will get a seat. I often times have had to sit on the floor for the first hour of the train ride until some people get off and some seats open up. Well, I shouldn't say often, it really has only happened once. I am pretty good at getting myself a seat. You have to be ruthless, cunning and cut-throat. Are you making a child and mother stand up for two hours? Too bad. Is an old person too feeble to stand and must sit down on the floor amongst the acculated filth of a hundred train rides for five hours? It is of no consequence. It's every man for himself on a train. There's no time to consider how your actions will affect others. The seat is your priority, your livelihood, your desinty.

I am perhaps exaggerating a bit, but when that train for Copenhagen pulled up to the station and a crowd of people began shoving onboard to get a seat, that thought process kicked in. That purpose that proceeds thought and consequence.

I was sitting too far back at the platform, so instantly I was at a disadvantage. This was no matter, for I squeezed my way on to the train with the prowess and grace of a gizelle. I was standing, looking down the carriage for an open seat, when a short, elderly man carrying a cello in a case pushed, and I mean pushed, his way ahead of a few people, me included. This would not stand.

As the man pushed his way through the crowd of anxious travelers, I was right behind him, taking advantage of the unnaturally large gap he was creating behind himself. He was my shield. He was my guide to a free seat for a seven hour train ride. He was my savior. We both break free of the crowd and stare down at two chairs. One is at the very back, roomy and spacious, without a seat to it. The other is right beside us, vacant, but surrounded by three other people, one of whom had the BIGGEST LIPS I HAVE EVER SEEN and was drinking liquor straight from a bottle. She only had a few teeth and she made a loud wheezing sound every time she breathed. I weighed by options, and within a split second I had decided. My guitar was set down firmly next to the wheezing woman as the man with the cello made his way to the back of the train to the spacious seat.

The problem with not having a reservation means that you play the lottery every time you sit in a seat, because just because it's free now, does not mean that the person who reserved the seat will show up within the next fives minutes and render your quest for a seat a failure. The trick is sitting in a seat that is not reserved. In Swiss trains it will tell you which ones are reserved and which ones are not, but not with these trains. Each time you sit you play a dangerous game of roulette.

The chances that the glorious spacious seat in the back was unreserved were slim. The old man, in his greed, made a foolish decision. As soon as he sat down, a woman came to ursurp his seat. A look of panic spread across his face as he rose from the chair. He looked sharply to my chair and waddled up to ask me if it was free. "I am afraid this is my chair" I said. The panic that had briefly dissapeared came back, and he grabbed his cello and started to push his way back through the crowd. His efforts were thwarted, though, when he ran straight into the conductor who obviously succeeded him in rank and therefore made the rest of the crowd move away from him, including cello man.

I sat in my chair, watching this and all the time hoping that no one would take my seat. Every person that passed by looking at the seat numbers was an enemy. A horrible enemy who was coming to make my train ride as miserable as the cello mans was going to be. A woman and her child pass by. I remind myself to be cold as ice. Not to let myself feel pity for these travelers without reservations. People continute to pass and the woman next to me continues to drink her alcohol with those HUGE FREAKING LIPS and I sit, cold and calculating, planning my next move in case I was to be removed from my seat.

But then the whistle blew. The train doors slammed shut and the cello man blinked his eyes rapidly, unable to fathom what was happening to him. I looked around once more to see that I was in the clear. Everyone was standing. The woman with her child - standing. The cello man - standing, blinking his eyes still. The other travelers who probably needed to seat more than I did - standing. No one was moving. Translation: No one had anywhere to go. I had just won the seat lottery.

It was at this moment that I allowed guilt to enter my head once more. I stood there, looking at the child who was sucking her thumb and holding her mother's hand with the other hand and felt like a criminal. Like a scrooge. Like I did when I watched those boys from inside my carriage in Italy. An image of myself asking the conductor to move these people from my eyesight entered my mind once again, and I started to laugh. I sat there, chuckling to myself about what had just happened. In complete honesty, the fact that all these people were standing when I was sitting was absolutely hilarious to me. It was hilariously unfair.

And then I noticed the woman next to me, taking a swig from her giant bottle of alcohol, wheezing and coughing amidst her swigs. Perhaps I wasn´t so lucky after all...I turned my head away and slowly remembered that I had a lot more Harry Potter to read and a big fluffy chair to read it in.

Victory was mine.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a horrible person. After an hour (maybe two...just kidding) enough people left the train so that everyone had a seat. I wouldn´t have been able to stand seeing the woman and her child stand for that long. They had a seat within twenty minutes, OK? Plus, it's their own fault for not buying a reservation. And don't tell me you didn't enjoy the story.

Berlin

2007-07-28T04:34:00.003+10:00

Well, after writing that last post Stefan, Tobias, his two cousins and I went to the TV Tower in Düsseldorf. We were going to go to Köln and see the famous Cathedral, but we woke up a bit too late for that. After checking out the view and getting the aerial tour from Stefan (and taking a few photos) we all left to go to the train station. Stefan´s mom packed me an entire bag full of goodies, complete with a signed bag and note. Now THAT is hospitality.

I arrived in Berlin late at night (seems to be a habit of mine) and tried to follow the instructions that told me to go North out of the train station, as if I carried a compass on me at all time. I eventually found North (and the hostel) and slept for a few hours before I was awoken by my roommates.

At about sunrise four drunken English people (some kind of trend, I think) stumble into the room, making a ton of noise. Now, I don´t mind if you come into the room drunk and make noise, just get into bed a be quiet in the next few minutes, alright? But no, they continued to drink, smoke, talk, joke and spill drinks (which they wiped up with a pillow case) for another hour. Luckily I had some ear plugs, but they did little for me once two of them decided to have sex and pass out mid way through.

Ah, hostel life.

The next day I planned on going on an eight hour walking tour of Berlin, but it did not quite go as planned. I got up early and left (not before taking a picture of the trashed room) to go to the meeting point. I arrive there ten minutes early and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. For an hour and a half, no one shows up. And don´t tell me I was standing in the wrong place because I was standing next to a "Brewer´s Berlin Tours Meets Here at 10:30 AM Daily!" sign.

So I went on a four hour tour of Berlin instead (through another company of course). It didn't start until 2:30, so it gave me time to explore an old abandoned department store that some artists turned into a squat/art gallery full of mostly graffiti. It was several stories and the amount of art (if you can call it that) crammed on the wall was astounding.

I walked into one gallery with about four inspiring paintings of women cutting themselves and noticed a guy (I assume the artist) sitting in a chair by an easel the entire time watching me. I spent about thirty seconds in there and decided to leave when he spoke up and said "donation please".

Me: What?
Artist: Donation required.
Me: What?
Artist: We perform a service here and require a donation.
Me: Why didn't it say that before I walked in?
Artist: It didn't need to, because I am telling you now.
(Now there is no way I am paying this guy)
Me: I didn't bring any money.
Artist: Bye.

The tour was great and informative. Berlin is so packed full of history it's almost overwhelming. It's cool seeing the sights as well as learning about them, instead of just walking by something and taking a picture. Our tour included the Reichstagg, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust memorial, the site of Hitler's bunker, the East Berlin TV tower (ask me about the Pope's Revenge), the demolition site of the former communist parliament building, and the memorial to those who died in war, just to name a few. They have been undergoing a massive rebuilding project since the Battle of Berlin, but you can still see bullet holes in the buildings.

Besides being serious about rebuilding their city, Berliners are serious about their meat, as you can see from this grill apparatus attached to this man's body. Don't tell me that doesn't get a little hot.

I met a guy named Chris (from Fairfax county) who was on the tour with me and we decided that after the tour we were going to go see the new Simpsons movie. So we checked out the giant dome at the top of the Reichstagg, got some curry wurst, and then headed to the giant Sony Center to see the movie. It was pretty fun to enjoy a movie with people from a different country. It sounds odd, but it was pretty cool.

After the movie I went to bed pretty early, because I didn't get much sleep the night before...Luckily my old roommates moved out.

Today I went to Potsdam, an old royalty retreat near Berlin. It had a bunch of cool buildings and beautiful gardens. I don't know what all of them were, but they were pretty extravagant. It is also famous for the Potsdam Conference held there with Stalin and Truman in 1945.

That night I went out with some guys I met from the hostel, but by the time they got their luggage from the train station, got ready, etc., it kind of turned into a bum night. We met some people on the street and tried to take a picture (I'm not sure why exactly...) and as we stood there the guy with the camera kept telling everyone who walked by to get in the photo until we were a huge group of strangers posing for a photograph for no reason.

So I eventually split from the guys I met originally and headed home, passing no less than twenty hookers all wearing white leather skirts and white leather boots. In case you didn't know, prostitution is very legal in Berlin and it makes for an interesting time walking home. They are quite...forward (especially if you are by yourself).

This morning I woke up and took it easy. I didn't do much because it was raining for the first half of the day, but I eventually made my way to the outdoor Berlin Wall exhibit, which explains the history of Berlin in detail from 1945 on. I also walked by the "Topography of Terror", another outdoor exhibit about the Gestapo. Appartently they ran out of money for the building, so they just stuck the displays outside for the time being, right below the Berlin Wall.

Just as a side note, being able to see the wall and walk on the path where it once was is very cool. Very cool indeed.

After that I went back to the Sony Center, got some Chinese Food and saw the new Harry Potter movie. I'm reading the new book right now, but I have to discipline myself by only reading it on the trains, otherwise I would finish it in a day. The movie was good, though. The dueling scene at the end between Voldemort and Dumbledore was incredible. Sorry, I'll stop now...

On the walk home I passed a bus station and these two guys all of a sudden jumped up and started shaking my hand and taking my picture. I suppose they thought I was someone famous, because they couldn't get enough of me. They kept asking me questions in German, and I just kept saying "ja", lest I give away my true identity. They especially loved the fact that I had gone to a movie (I had some left over popcorn with me). After a minute or two of taking pictures with me, I kept saying the only German words I know, "guten abent" and "gut nacht" (good evening and good night) and pointed to my watch as if I had somewhere important to go (I'm famous, after all). Coincidently, those words are the first words of the German lullaby I sang for my voice recital...

Even though it's Saturday night in Berlin (this city is incredibly vibrant at night) I think I am just going to head off to bed. Tomorrow I am going to Copenhagen where I will be staying with some extended Wasli family members.

I'll leave you with a picture of the hottest show in Berlin right now...

München and Düsseldorf

2007-07-25T21:06:00.003+10:00

So I ran into some more Terps in Switwerland...

When I got to the station I asked the receptionist if a reservation was required for the train to München (German spelling for Munich - just for educational purposes) and she told me no, but that it was "highly reccomended". But when I went to buy one the ticket manager told me the train was booked, and that I would have to travel standby (That means I stand or I sit on the floor with the bicycles).

The train arrived and I clammered inside and to my luck there were about 20 seats that were not reserved (no name tag), so I got a free seat all the way to Munich. Unforunately about twenty people didn´t get those seats and had to stand with the bicycles the entire time. I felt bad for a minute, and then I remembered the time I had to pay 28 Euros to sit on the floor for two hours and I stopped feeling sorry.

When I arrived in Munich is was pouring rain, of course. My hostel was supposed to be close to the station, so I got out my poncho and went out to find it. In retrospect, the hostel was easy to find, just not in the pouring rain at midnight. The instructions told me to go right on Grasserstraße, but emmerging from the Metro I never saw a sign or anything. When you come up from the Hackerbrükke station, you arrive on a bridge. You can come up on either side of the bridge, so if the bridge is in fact Grasserstraße street, than going "right" or "left" would be pretty much impossible since it is relative to which side of the bridge you emerge from. So I walked to one end, then back to the other, then back to the other, realized that the bridge was in fact Grasserstraße street, and then proceeded to find Arnulstaße, which took me to my hostel.

I arrived pissed, cold, wet but with another interesting story to tell.

The next day I went to Nuremburg with a guy I met from Penn State named Eric (I asked - he thinks Ian´s name is familiar...). Nuremburg is famous for two reasons. One, the famous Nuremburg war-crime trials. And two, it was the central rallying point for the Nazi Party. Hitler planned a massive development with several buildings and fields to host Nazi events, but only a few of the buildings were ever created. Congress Hall was only half-finished, and is where the the Nazi Documentation Center is housed. The Documentation Center is a musuem that displays Hitler´s rise to power and how is happened, and how Nuremburg played an important part. We spent about five hours there and left to go see Zeppelin Field.

Zeppelin Field is where everyone gathered to watch the troops march through the city. There is a stadium-like seating structure, and a special platform where Hitler stood to watch the marches. Standing on that platform was incredible. Knowing you are standing in the exact place where Hitler watched his armies march past is haunting.

After Zeppelin Field, Eric and I split up and I went off to explore the old-town before taking a train back to Munich. There were powerful storms through the region again, so it delayed my train quite a bit, but I had an entire train car to myself and the new Harry Potter, so I did not mind one bit. The train also gave out free drinks, too.

The next morning Eric told me that he had gotten on a train about an hour after me, and he didn´t get home until three in the morning. He said that trees had fallen all over the tracks, so the train he was on had to backtrack and pick up all the stranded passengers. He told me he stood in the train car for hours. When I told him I had a car to myself and was served free, cold drinks because of the slight delay, he was needless to say a little upset at my luck.

The next day I went to Dachau. I really wanted to go to Hitler´s Eagle´s Nest at the reccomendation of my grandmother, but they were both closed the following day, so I had to choose between one and the other. I will be back to see that hide-out, though.

Dachau was what you would expect when you visit a concentration camp. Sombering, moving and packed with history. The most interesting part was the gate to the camp (still the original) which read "Abeit macht frei" (Work makes you free) that you walked through when you entered the camp.

The film and personal stories on the audio guide were chilling, but the gas chambers and crematorium really made you sit back and realize that it all really happened. The Nazi´s would tell the prisoners that they would be getting a "de-lousing" treatment, so they would instruct the prisoners to remove their closing and enter the "brausebad" (German for bath-house) for cleaning. This of course wasn´t a cleaning and gas would proceed to enter the chambers. Because of this, Germans no longer use the term brausebad for the bathroom, but instead the French word "doucher". Although the gas chamber existed in Dachau, historians do not believe it was ever put in use like the ones in Auschwitz.

The next day I slept in (ask me about my free breakfasts at A&O hostel...) and then got on the train to Düsseldorf. Why Düsseldorf?

Well, when I was in Napoli you probably remember me hanging out with Stefan for a few days. The last day I was in Napoli, Stefan invited me and some other people to come stay at his house in Düsseldorf and then take a road-trip to Berlin. And I have to admit, German hospitality has trumped the rest...

I arrived in Düsseldorf and was greeted by my friend at the platform. His brother drove us back to his house and showed me to my room and bed, which was actually his room and bed (I told you). He told me that we were going to a friend´s birthday party. He told me that in Germany, you celebrate the person´s birthday the night before and party throughout the night.

I then asked if I could take a nap.

So after a good nap and shower, we left for the party. It was nothing crazy, just a good cookout with some good German meat and good German beer. Only a few people spoke English, but we had fun all the same.

The next day Stefan, his brother Tobias and his girlfriend went to the German mining museum. They replicated an entire mine underneath the ground, complete with all the machinery for mining for iron and coal. It was incredibly detailed. Up above there was a giant exhibit on everything mining. It was all in German, but Stefan assured me that even he did not understand what he was looking at. It had huge collections of mining equipment as well as an exhibit dedicated entirely to a mining disaster in France near the turn of the century.

When we got back his mother made us an authentic meal from Düsseldorf - Reibekuchen. Potatos onions cooked together into pancake-like patties. They were served with apple sauce, a sweet sugar spread and sugar. They were delicious. Tobias says I had twelve, but Stefan puts the number somewhere around ten.

After that we headed out to the "Old Town", a part of downton Düsseldorf filled with restaurants, cafès and bars. We met some cousins of his and had a great night around town. It was a pretty wild time, and I think this picture (which was the last picture taken of the night) will speak for itself. If you want to hear some of the stories (the crude bartender, the mess in the street, "pfeife für pfeife", the amazing Donald Duck, the fake Canadian, the virgin paper doll, the pipi joke, and the missing taxi, Stichpimppullibockforcelorum, STRESS, the €115 bill, etc.) you´ll just have to ask me sometime...

Today I (needless to say) slept in late and had a great breakfast with Tobias and Stefan. They bought some fresh bread from the baker as well as some mett, which is raw ground pork. It sounds different, if not gross, but once you spread some on some bread and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it with freshly cut onions, it is delicious. Stefan warned me that if you leave it out for more than four hours it will develop Salmonella, so it must be fresh (which it was).

Stefan´s original plan of taking a road trip to Berlin did not work out, so I will be heading there today by myself. I have only spent two nights here, and I could not have asked to stay with a nicer family. They have cooked for me, cleaned my clothes, let me sleep in their bed, and everything else a wonderful host does. I told Stefan that if he ever comes to the States, I will show him such a good time it will blow his mind. I told him I would take him to Red, Hot and Blue (He says he has always wanted a good American BBQ), Krispy Kreme (Germany has a lot of Dunkin Donuts, but none of the good stuff), Sakura (Japanese steakhouse - just for entertainment´s sake) and the Oceanaire (he loves seafood) and do some UMD tailgating, skeet-shooting, quad riding, and horseback riding if he comes to the farm.

Off to Berlin. Maybe I will meet Quentin Tarantino. If only I was as lucky as Stefan´s cousin Tanja...(A whole other story)

.

Grindelwald Continued

2007-07-20T09:18:00.003+10:00

Well, I've spent two days here and it is absolutely the best place I have been to. Most people here are tourists, and those that aren't keep to themselves, but I am not here to socialize. I haven't felt the need to really make friends here. The mountains and the scenery are enough to keep me happy.

Every Wednesday night there is apparently a street festival here in Grindelwald. All the bars, stores and shops stay open to accomodate all the locals and tourists who flood the streets looking for a good time. It's pretty tame - it started off with a girl's dance team doing a few numbers for Jazzercise (no joke), but then it started to rain to all the action moved under canopies.

At one end of the street were the local Swiss performers. They had a quartet playing accordions and bass, as well as a horn group. They played music while the locals enjoyed Jägerkaffee (cherry liqour and dark, hot coffee brewed from a kettle) and Chäsbrätel(bread with melted Swiss Cheese on top). Both were very good.

After listening to the local music for a while I bought some authentic Swiss Cheese (Muschitel, or something like that) and some dried sausage.

I found my way down to the other end of the street where a local band was covering classic rock. They were pretty good for a cover band. I met up with two American guys I had met earlier that day and we pretty much chilled around the bar/stage for the rest of the night.

Today I went to a canyon with a river running through it. I don't remember the exact name, but it's something German and hard to pronounce. I went with a guy I met named Peter who had the same idea I did about going to see it. It was really awesome - it seemed right out of Lord of the Rings. After walking through the canyon, we both had coffee at the cafe outside and talked about how we missed home. Peter has five kids back in Australia, so it was interesting to meet someone who actually missed their kids instead of their parents.

For the rest of the day I have been organizing my pack, schedueling my trip, eating on and off, and just tidying up some loose ends with post cards and such.

Sorry for the lack of interesting stories in this post. It's almost two and the hostel if full of incredibly loud, drunk Germans. The internet is not free at the next place so I don't want to get behind.

Off to Munich tomorrow...

Interlaken and Grindelwald

2007-07-19T00:12:00.003+10:00

Make sure you read the previous post about Roma, I've been updating like a fiend! Also, all the pictures are up, so head all the way back to the entry after Barcelona to see the new ones. Some of them are unlabeled and sideways. I cannot fix that right now because this computer crashes everytime I try. Sorry some of them are blurry/grainy, primarily the pizza pictures...

I arrived in Interlaken late at night. Not too late, because the Chinese food place was still open. I hadn't seen Chinese food in about a month, so I walked straight in. "Mr. Chong" was very nice and charged me a boatload for some sweet and sour chicken. I went back to my hostel and ate it while overlooking a river 20 feet from me and mountains all around me, their snow reflecting in the moonlight.

Interlaken lies between two lakes (hence the name) and has a river running straight through it. My hotel was right on the river. At night time I would open the windows and doors as far as they could go and listen to the rushing river and feel the cool mountain air on my face all night. I'm not trying to exagerate or make you jealous, it was just that good.

The next day I walked around the lake and found a nice little place to sit and read my book for a while. I was going to go hiking, but it took me two hours to find the trail and by then I did not feel like going on a three hour hike. That night I booked a canyoning trip for the next day.

Every backpacker has a splurge. A trip or purchase that greatly exceeds their normal budget. Mine was canyoning in Switzerland at the Chli Schliere canyon. The "most extreme" according to the brochure. Go big or go home, you know?

You can read about Canyoning here. OK, now that you've read that, I'll tell you how it went down. First, they fit us for wetsuits and helmets and such. We then take a long car ride with our two entertaining guides (think Van Ray with a Swiss accent...) and had some funny discussions, none of which I will repeat here.

We drive all the way up and get out, get our wet suits on and start hiking down into the canyon. Once we're down there, they explain the basic techniques for jumping from large heights and sliding down rock slides.

"These rocks are not made by Disney. They're hard, ya know?"

Any other instructions they would give us at each obstacle. The first jump was the biggest, about 30 feet.

"There's no place to stand, so you have to run up to the rock and jump straight off with one foot otherwise you'll slip and well, you know".

You're with a team, and you have to keep moving, so there is no time to think about it. You get to the edge of 40 foot rock slide or a 30 foot jump and there's no time to sit there and think about it. They tell you quickly how to do it while yelling over the rushing water, and then they count. Three. Two. One.

Don't choke. Not with the team watching...

So you do it before you even have a chance to think about it. It's the most intense thing you'll ever do. It's like jumping out of an airplane twenty times in a row.

There were about twenty different obstacles. Some included simple jumping, some were simple sliding and others were more complicated like holding on to a rope while they lower you down the first half of the slide and then you let go when you see the guy at the very bottom waving his hands. You can't hear him say let go because water is constantly beating in your face.

I am going to order pictures, but for now you can see the low quality samples the photographer took of me yesterday. She was only at about five of the last obstacles, but some of those were the most intense.

I emerged injury free and with a good sense of accomplishment. I'll explain the entire story to you in person if I see you, it's really only something I can explain orally.

Here are the canyoning pictures of me.

Later that day I went to a classical piano concert at the church there called Unterseen. A piansist named Fred Snoek was playing a concert of Beethoven, Chopin, Lizst and Debussy. The concert was a wonderful to relax after a very crazy day. Right after that I went to bed early with the windows and doors wide open again. I slept hard.

Today I got up and updated this blog for about five hours and headed to Grindelwald, the town overlooking Interlaken. So instead of looking up at the mountains, I am looking down from them. It's the most beautiful place I have ever been and beats any man made monument in a crowded city any day. Here's my hostel.

Oh yea, the fruit here is amazing, too. I'm sitting here eating a box of blueberries, each one the size of your thumbnail.

Roma

2007-07-18T19:49:00.003+10:00

I arrived in Rome feeling horrible. I was feverish, sweating, chilled and exhausted all at once. I had to find my way from Termini station all the way to some camping site on the other side of Rome, which I was kicking myself for.

I had to get off the train, get on to the metro, get off the metro, walk to the bus stop and wait for the right bus to come. The bus did come, and it was packed. More packed than you would think is possible. I pushed my way on there and stood, feverish and dizzy, crammed against other hot, sweaty, bothered bodies for a half an hour on the bus. It was terrible.

I arrived at the camp site and sat down to eat at the first restuarant I see. I'm shivering in the heat and I order a meat and cheese calzone. The calzone was gross, filled with only cheese and speckles of meat. It was overpriced and nasty and I was pissed. So I left to find my tent to sleep for the rest of the night.

My poor roomate, who was sleeping less than six inches from me, must have hated the fact that he was laying next to a very ill person who wouldn't stop blowing his nose every two minutes and leaving his nasty tissues all over the ground. I went to bed early that night, but not before I ran into Adam from Indiana.

Adam is a guy I roomed with in Paris, stayed at the same hotel with in Nice (without knowing beforehand), and then ran into again here. I couldn't believe this was the third time we ran into eachother over an entire continent. I spent the entire day at the pool with him and a guy I met named Tom from the UK. I just wanted to relax and read my book to get well, so that's what I did.

The next day I did the same thing. I never left the campsite. I met some nice Canadian guys and some girls from the UK and we had a cookout. We had heard about a free Genesis concert downton in Rome, so I convinced everyone to go (this was going to be my first time leaving the campsite in Rome). What a mistake that was going to be.

I'm very particular about my concerts. I like to be there early, see the opening act, be there for hte opening, get a good seat, prepare myself, etc. The other people I was with didn't have this same attitude. In fact, I couldn't get them to leave until 45 minutes before the concert started. That may sound like decent time, but not with Rome's public transportation. So we wait 20 minutes to get the bus, and then get off at the metro, but find the metro closes at 9 (when the concert started) so we had to take a bus. Two buses, and then walk. For every minute that passed, I was getting more and more angry. Genesis, in Rome, for free, and I'm missing it. Everyone else is having a jolly old time walking around two hours after it started...

We finally get there and it's so packed you can't even see the stage. Luckily they had video screens so I just sat down and watched the last few songs. I pretty much missed it and I was pretty much as pissed off as you can get about a concert.

It takes us even longer to get back, so the whole trip was a complete waste. I get back and go straight to bed, regretting I ever attempted to be sociable.

Later that night, I am awoken. Adam tells me that he checked out the day before, and that he needs to sleep on my floor. I told him it was OK, as long as my roomate didn't freak out. So he crawls on the 6 inch space between the beds and falls asleep. I thought that after that I would at least have a good nights sleep...

I am awoken at 3 AM by a loud noise. I listen for a few minutes and determine that it's a group of people making noise. I lay there for a while listening to see if it is going to way and I realize that it's about thirty feet behind me and not going anywhere. I sit up in bed and look out my tent window and see a group of British guys horsing around a picnic table, drunk, being unbelievable obnoxiously loud for three in the morning. I keep watching for a while, waiting for security to show up. It didn't show, so I started to feel like I needed to do something. Just then I hear some girls telling them to stop, and I look again to see guys throwing sheets up on top of a tent. This is bad, I thought. I keep watching and I see a girl walk from down the row past their tents. As she walks by, all the guys start harassing her, calling her some of the worst things you can call a woman. By now, I'm starting to get really bothered by this. They keep getting louder and I keep hearing girls scream at them to stop. Then I see a girl run from a tent, wrapped in a sheet, past all the guys down the road as the guys called her names and taunted her. After she runs down the street, they all start chanting "USA, USA, USA" just to be funny, even though they are from England. That was it. All the anger from the concert comes flooding back and in a rage I grab a sandal and tell Adam "We've got to do something. Now." So I run out of my tent, barefooted, and start yelling at these guys while Adam stands behind me a few feet back, still drowsy. I won't repeat what I said here, but it was about as rough language as you can get. I went on for about thirty seconds before I stopped and waited for them to do something. Half of them stood there, almost dazed by what had just happened, and the other half start laughing. It's one on eight, and I'm obviously not going to physically force them to go to bed. So I just stand there, with my shoe in my hand, ready for action. As I stand there, they all join in taunting me, but at the same time they are all slowly retreating to their tents. I continue just to stand in the road staring at them until the girl in the sheet returns.

"Did you find security?"
"No, I cannot find them." (She has a heavy Dutch accent)
"What happened?"
"Well, they are drunk and our zipper is broken so when we told them to be quiet the came over, threw porn in our tent and peed all over and inside our tent."
"They what? OK. Let's go. We're getting security."

We both walk past the remaining few as they call her a c*** and laugh hysterically. We walk all the way down to the entrance of the camp and I find a security guard and fill him in on what's happening.

"I suppose you're not aware of this, or of what is going on in the camp in general, but some drunken Englishmen decided to urinate all over this girls tent in a drunken stupor"

So he calls for backup and me, the girl, and four security gaurds go up to the tents. Funny thing is, when we get there, they're all quiet in bed. The tents are locked and silent.

"What tent was it?"

The girls says she doesn't know.

"Well, you need to know"
"It's a little tough, you know, when you're getting peed on" I say.
"We cannot do anything unless we have a tent number"

I point to about five tents and say, "all of these".

"Are you sure?"
"Well, it wasn't like I, being one person, could approach eight drunk idiots and ask them what exact tent they are staying in - Perhaps the tents that are locked shut with people in them are it? We all know the coward aren't going to come out now..."

So they tell me they cannot do anything tonight, but that in the morning it will all be resolved. I made sure that the two girls in the tent got a new place to stay for the night, and I helped them pack up all of their things (some soaked in urine) so they could move to a new place.

I gave them my tent number and told them that in the morning they should come get me so we can go to talk to the management. They thanked me and I went back to bed, too pumped full of adrenaline and anger to sleep.

The next morning the two girls that were in the tent, along with the manager, knocked on my tent and told me to follow them. They led me to the tents, and I saw all my old friends from the night before, standing in a line, looking pissed, hungover and confused. The manager turns to me and asks,

"What it these boys"
"Yes"
"You are sure?"
"No doubt"

At this point the coach comes up to me and says,

"I don't mean to call you a liar, but my boys said they didn't do it. They said that they were being loud and someone came out and yelled at them to go to bed and they did."
"Was that before or after these boys decided to take a piss all over their tent?"
"Well, they said it wasn't them."

Can you believe that? Blatant liars. Ugh. What is worse? So I replied,

"So you mean while these boys were horsing around drunk, some stranger just happened to come by and take a pee all over the tent for a good laugh and no one noticed? Do you really believe that?"

"Well, they said they didn't do it."

The manager intervenes and now asks the girls if they are sure if it was the same boys in front of them that peed on their tent and harassed them. They say yes without missing a beat and the manager instantly declares,

"You're out. You're all out. Get out."

The look on all their faces was priceless. A mixture of shock and anger and disbelief all melted together to form an expression that will be forever burned in my mind. Victory.

"All of us? Even those who didn't pee on the tents?" (Now she admits it)
"Yes."

So later that day, the girls bring me a gift for helping them out (some cookies and fizzy water - a backpackers gift for sure) and thank me. They tell me that management upgraded them to a bungalo (that's a house with AC) for free for the rest of their stay (Two weeks!). I told them that it was nothing and that I hoped they enjoyed the rest of their stay.

As I left that day for the train station (to go to Switzerland), I saw them all loading solemnly into the team bus, carrying all their junk.

I couldn't help but grin.

Napoli

2007-07-16T19:53:00.003+10:00

OK, there is another new post below this one, so make sure you read that one as well. I apologize for the backup, but it's been hard to find time to do a proper update. I am in Interlaken, Switzerland now and I have yet to write about traveling to/from Rome, so bear with me. Pictures will be coming soon. Finding internet cafes that allow you to upload pictures are rare, I am afraid. Sorry if it's a lot to read!

Whenever told someone I was going to Napoli, the reply I would almost always get was "Why?" or "By yourself"? This is perfectly understandable as Napoli is the filthiest, crowded and most crime-infested city of Italia. So why did I want to go there? People told me that if you can somehow get in with the Italians, spend a few days there and wait out the initial fear it can become a really incredible place. I really think that would had happened if I hadn't spent two nights on a train.

I arrived in Napoli and begin the hardest part of the trips - finding the hostel from the train station. I had written the directions down in Barcelona so I knew how to get there, but it's not always that easy. People word things differently then you would and before you know it you're lost in the middle of a fish district.

My hostel was in a town a little east of Napoli called Portici. Don't be confused, though. It is very much a part of Napoli. After about a half an hour of wandering I stumble upon a guy cleaning his car with a co-worker. He asked me if I was lost and I told him that I was looking for a hostel.

Him: Hoss-tel?
Me: Yes. A Hostel.
Him: What is the name?
Me: Well, let me see....Well, I actually don't know the name.
Him: What is the address?
Me: Well, I actually only have the directions, no address. I think it was an old fabric factory or something.
Him: (Thinks for a minute) Ahh! Ostello! Yes, yes Fabric! Get in, get in. (He points to the car)

At this point all the years of hearing "don't take rides from strangers" echoes in my head as I ponder letting this man take me to my hostel. I only had 20 Euro on me, so if I got a gun pointed to my head I would have to trade my camera and cell phone and 20 Euro for one hell of a story. I chose the story (or so I thought at the time).

Luckily for me, he was just a generally nice guy and he dropped me off in front of a one way street and said "Go straight! Viva United States, eh?". So I start walking down the street looking for my hostel. His instructions were clear enough, but my head was not, so again I became lost (It's hard to go "straight" when a road divides into two identical angles). So there I am, wondering through tiny little cobblestone allies full of barrels of fish, getting the strangest looks one can imagine.

I ask a random man if he speaks English and he says he does, so I ask him for directions to "Fabrique" (How they pronounce it). He starts to tell me but he is interrupted when a man on a moped with his son comes up and asks what's going on. The guy tells him he's trying to tell me how to get to fabric and they end up getting into a small argument (or as the Italians call it - a friendly discussion) about where exactly it is. They apparently agreed that it was the 4th street on the right and wished me luck.

So by this time I am getting a little tired from carrying all my junk to and fro, and I really wishing I could just hop on a moped and zip right to my hostel. And then my wish was granted. The guy on the moped pulls up next to me, this time without his son, and shouts accompagnare over the noise of the traffic. So I hop on the back of his bike, guitar, backpack and all, and he takes my straight to my hostel (Not bad for a hostel bar, huh?)

That day I remembered the words of a traveler I met in Paris: "The Italians will make you feel incredibly small. But if you can get in with the Italians, you'll be set. You'll be a king". For a long time I wondered how to do that, but it was something I found that just happens with a little bit of luck and time.

I walked around looking for a place to get some pizza (Napoli is, after all, the birthplace of Pizza) and found a quiet little joint near the hostel. I pop in and order some pizza from an extremely large chef (That's a good sign, I thought). The pizza was amazing, and I'm not just saying that. The pizza in Milan was not too bad, but it was nothing you couldn't get in the states. The pizza I had in Napoli was delicious. What really made it was the freshness of the ingredients, especially the fresh basil leaves on top. When I had walked in there I knew I had ten Euros on me, so I you can imagine my surprise when I searched all my pockets to find nothing. I tried to give him my cellphone and tell him that I would be back, but he just said "No problem" and gave the phone back to me. I went back to the hostel and searched everything, and I still couldn't find the missing ten. It drove me absolutely insane. I ended up borrowing ten Euros from the hotel and ran back to pay him. He told me to come back tonight for more and I said I would.

About three hours later I show up again and this time order some pasta. Just plain pasta with tomato sauce, but again, it was the best I've ever had.

The next day I headed to Pompei with some guys I met from the hostel. It was expensive, but it really was interesting. Some of the murals have been restored, and I think they were the best part. And yes, I did see the famous plaster casts of the bodies. The view overlooking Pompei was pretty fantastic, too. Afterwards, I took the guys out to that same Pizzeria as the day before. That makes three times in two days.

But each day I was there I was feeling worse and worse, like my head was too small for everything inside of it. I was hoping it was just from the heat. How wrong I would be. I awoke that night so incredibly hot that I couldn't stand it. I waddled to the bathroom and just ran my head under the faucet. That earned me about an hour of sleep before I had to wake up (because it gets hotter as the day goes on).

The next day I went out looking for a National Museum of Archeaology, where all the Pompei stuff is displayed, with my buddy Stefan from Germany. It took us about two hours to get there (Italian public transportation is the worst I have ever encountered) and then we found out it was closed. So we decided we would go to an art museum instead, which was appartly only a km away. Again, we walked for another hour in the heat to find it. By now, I was really starting not to feel well.

The art museum was nice, but it was just picture after picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, so after a while it got a little old. The museum was in the middle of a nice park, though. Stefan and I found some pizza (which was not as good as the one in Portici) and wandered back to the metro to get back.

I went to bed early that night, but not before meeting a group of people who were all going to Capri the next day. I decided I would go with them, hoping I would feel a little better, but I barely slept that nght. Despite the heat, I covered myself in three blankets and shivered the entire night. My illness had reached it's peak.

We all got up to go to Capri the next day (after popping about 4 Advil) and found at the ferry was 25 Euro round trip, so we decided to just chill around Sorrento for the day instead. We explored some Roman ruins on the water, which were absolutely beautiful. We spent the morning there, and got a late lunch at a small bar on the water. The water was really, really rough so you couldn't get in the bay, but you could lay on the rocks and feel the mist from the water hitting the rocks on you.

We left that afternoon and headed back to the hostel for dinner. I told them all about the place that I had been going, and they all agreed to go with me there for dinner.

Needless to say they were thrilled to see me bring in eight people, and they instantly brought out a complimentary tray of mussles for us to enjoy. Everyone else was slightly finicky about shellfish except for me and my German friend who devoured them like potato chips. It was just us and the family that owned the place in there, so I knew it was going to be great.

And it was. I had white pasta with mussels with Stefan (the mussels would melt in your mouth. You wouldn't even chew them, you would just taste them) and everyone else had penne with tomato sauce and beef. After a while, the grandmother and her granddaughter (I think) brought out a free bottle of wine and did an Italian toast with us. She had to stand on a chair because she was so short (her family had a good laugh about this) but she was a good teacher of Italian toasts. Before we knew it, she brought out another bottle of wine and did another toast with us. Ten minutes later she brings out another bottle and this time I give a toast to "Italia, Napoli, and the best Pizzeria in Napoli". Just when I think the complimentary food and drink is finished, she brings out a final plate of mussels for us to enjoy before we leave. In with the Italians? I think so!

The next day I left for Rome, feeling absolutely awful.

The ongoing story of the night train and it's tragic consequences...

2007-07-12T07:53:00.003+10:00

I asked the conductor about the night train and he said that no reservation was neccesary, so that naturally made me think that I was getting a free sleeper bed. How wrong I was. When I arrived at the terminal and showed the conductor my Eurail pass, he made a waving motion with his hand and muttered "last car". The last car of a train never holds anything promising, so my heart sank slightly in fear. As I walked down the platform I gazed longingly at the sleeper cars thinking about the nice sleep I was going to have until all of a sudden the sleeper cars stopped and (shudder) the compartmentalized cars started. No, no, no. I can't do this. Not two nights in a row. No, no no. So I walk in the last car and it's stifling hot. Come on, these train have AC...Why do they wait so long to turn it on? (Just so you know, in compartmentalized trains, you cannot recline the seat without moving directly into the seat across from you. If you're lucky and no one is seated across from you, you can slide both the chairs down to make on long bed.) That was my prayer. I start walking down the train car and every single one is full. Full of sweaty, bothered people looking unhappy. I finally end up gettting in a car with a family that has one seat left and I sit down and stare out the window, already sweating profusely.

The conductor walks by and all of a sudden everyone on the train starts yelling in Italian. I don't know Italian, but I understood enough to know that there was a serious problem. I determined after a few minutes that the AC was broken in the car. Therefore, anyone who knew Italian complained until the conductor moved them. I was not one of those people. I was left in the car with a guy from Romania. The good news was that we were the only two people in the compartment...A semi bed!

So we both extend all six of the chairs and lay down and turn the light off. Once we were trying to go to sleep, we had a conversion that followed thus:

Me: Inglese?
Him: No.
Me: Espanol?
Him: No. Francese?
Me: No.

We both laughed at the hopelessness of the situation and laid down to try to sleep. Now the problem with sleeper cars is that they make a stop about every twenty minutes to pick up more passengers, so it makes sleeping just about impossible. The worst that could happen was that someone could board the train and get in your cabin, sit across from you and make sleep impossible. Apparently the Romanian knew one Enlglish word (shit) and we would both repeat it as people walked by our compartment looking for a seat. Neither of us could communicate to eachother in one language, but we both knew that we didn't want any more people in our compartment. So everytime the train stopped, we would both sit out and I would look out the window to the platform and he would look out the compartment window and we would both sit there and mutter the only English word he knew until we were sure no one was going into our compartment. This went on for about 5 more stops until we realized that we needed sleep.

So we both settle down for good and I look out the compartment window and see two young boys (Zack and Blake's age) sitting outside their compartment because there is apparently no room left. They were sitting there looking into our compartment like they would give anything to be where we are. I look at them for a few moments and started wishing that I had a curtain to draw so I didn't have to look at them anymore. The coldness of that thought struck me as absolutely hilarious, and I just started laughing at how absolutely evil I was being by wishing that I didn't have to see their faces, which were obviously upsetting me. The Romanian wakes up and looks at me like I'm crazy, and I just point to the boys amidst my laughter and he realizes the comedy of it and starts laughing too. So we both are in the compartment laughing hyserically for about ten minutes until we finally settle down. Just as we settle down though, the snack man comes wheeling down the aisle and makes the two boys get up from their seats so he can push the cart through. This brings on another fit of hyseria. So after we die down again, we both remembered that we needed to drift off to sleep and promptly went to bed.

Finally, eleven hours later, the train arrives in Napoli and I don't feel quite right...

Barcelona and Traveling Days

2007-07-10T06:37:00.003+10:00

Well, I spent my last day in Barcelona alone, unfortunately. I had to check out at 10 AM (which always sucks) and I walked straight to the train station to put my stuff in a locker for the day. First I headed off to the Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral that Gaudi designed. It's still very much a work in progress and is not set to be completed until 2025. It really does make you appreciate the vastness of such a project when it's taken over two centuries with modern equipment. It was packed full of people but it was interesting to see it all under construction.

After that I headed to Park Guell. Park Guell is a park that Gaudi designed for a rich guy named Guell. The park has a lot of eclectic buildings and fountains, and it's all on top of a giant hill overlooking all of Barcelona. It was a really great view.

After that I headed to the Picasso Museum, but when I got there there was a line and I knew that once I got in I was going to have to rush to get through it, so I didn't want to waste the money. I explored a little bit more of the Gothic Quarter and headed back to the train station. And so begins on of the biggest mistakes of my trip so far.

My original plan was, as you know, to go to Barcelona from Bordeaux and then to Naples. Instead I went to Nice, Barcelona and then Naples. Some serious backtracking. In order to get to Naples by my reservation on the 8th, I had to take two overnight trains and travel continously for three days. Never do this. Ever.

First I had to take a train to Cerbere and then from Cerbere I had to take the overnight train to Nice. I met two girls from England on the train to Cerbere and we stuck together until we reached Nice, where they were headed. I got on the train and the conductor warned everyone on the train that someone gets robbed on this route every night and that we should keep all our money and documents on us. Luckily nothing happened to me and I woke up in Nice having slept slightly better than my last train ride to Barcelona. I'm half done with this excursion.

I arrive in Nice and say farewell to Haley and Jenny (I'm sick with jealously that they get to go to a hotel) and find that I must take a train to Ventmille, Italy in order to take the train to Milan. I wanted a reservation but they accidently sold me a ticket for 6 Euro (which I didn't realize until I was on the train) so I spent that train ride pissed at myself (Plus something smelled like poop the entire ride and that just added to my distress).

On the ride to Milan I met some Russian girls who were on a business trip. The trains in Italy are compartmentalized, meaning that there are two rows of three facing eachother in each compartment. This arrangment forces you to be pretty social, so long story short I ended up being asked to play some Beatles songs on my guitar for them as we rode along.

I had only one day to explore Milan because I had another train that left that night to Napoli (Naples). Milan wasn't that great. I got off the Metro right in front of the Duomo so it gave a good first impression, but it was mostly filled with shops and was quite dirty in some parts. I started wandering around and found myself in a nice residential district with some cool houses, but after a while I had no idea where I was. So after a while I asked a guy where the nearest Metro was and he said "not close". Apparently I had walked about 2km from the nearest Metro stop, so after about an hour of walking I finally got on the Metro and headed back to the city center.

I got my first Italian pizza and a coke and enjoyed it while I watched the sun set over the Duomo. The pizza was quite thick and was cut up into several rectangular pieces (I was too hungry to take pictures). The peaceful feeling didn't last though because I knew I had to spend another night on the train. That's right - my second night on the train.

To be continued...

Nice and Barcelona

2007-07-06T07:12:00.003+10:00

Nice turned out to be pretty great. If you were waiting for me to say Nice was nice, I am sorry to dissapoint you. I´m going to warn you now: Nice doesn´t exactly scream ¨culture¨. In fact, it screams party. So the cultural experiences have (for the most part) been put on hold until I depart from the French Riviera. I think you will all understand.

Shortly after writing that last post I met a family of five from North Carolina who were (and still are) traveling all over Europe. I ended up having dinner with them and the guys from Colorado that night. As you can see, pasta seems to be the standard for traveling backpackers.

A lot of people go down to the beach at night to, well, drink as well as enjoy the night. There was a guy who wheeled a piano out from his house and played classical music for about three hours every night. He was a genius. I asked him to play some Chopin and not only did be oblige, but he obliged with my favorite song.

While sitting on the beach you could look out over the Mediteranean Sea and gaze at the bright orange moon reflecting off the water. The beach was also full of fire eaters and other performers, so it just added to the already fantastic ambience of a lit up beach town at night.

I stumbled across some very cool people on the beach including a guy named Osan from Turkey who had an affinity for Americans and a guy named Patrick who lives in Italy. Patrick volunteered to show me a good time when I arrive in Naples on the 8th so I have decided to definately take him up on that. I was also lucky enough to meet two Italian girls (especially the one on the left) who Osan and I skipped around town with for the rest of the night.

The next day was a pretty peaceful day. I went out with the Swiss Family Robinson (as the other people called them in the hostel) and Osan to the beach where I ran into the Italian girls again and was invariably given the cold shoulder (but I´ve heard that´s the norm with Italian girls so I´m not too bothered).

That night we went out to the beach again with the group, plus two guys from Finland and a guy from California. The piano guy was back, and this time he was playing some improv jazz with a guy he had apparently met that night. And just when I thought a night couldn´t get much better, fireworks appeared out of no where and went off for about ten minutes. You can´t ask for much more.

The next day me and the family went to Cannes. We were actually planning on going to Monaco, but we got on the train going the opposite direction and we decided it wasn´t that bad off an alternative. If you remember, there is a film festival there each year and a lot of famous people make their way there for the event. The beach was sandy (which you would think would be a plus) but it was a dirty kind of sand that left a dusty residue on your skin. The view was nice, though.

That night I once again had to say goodbye to all my new friends and got on a night train to Barcelona. Leaving these people has been the hardest part. You spend all this time getting to know people and having fun with them and you ultimately end up leaving them to start all over again in a strange place. It can be hard, but just when you think you´ll never meet people that great again for the rest of your trip, you meet new people that are just as great in completely different ways. It does wonders for your social skills.

Unfortunately, the train from Nice made a stop about every twenty minutes so it made sleeping impossible. Needless to say, I arrived in Spain grumpy. But grumpiness has a habit of disspearing when you make about ten new friends in less than two hours, so the day turned out to be pretty good. The hostel here is really comfy. It´s actually a house that they just let people stay in and you pretty much take care of yourself. That night I met two people from Toronto, two girls from Arizona, a couple from Australia and a couple from Croatia. We all had dinner and then headed out around town for the rest of the night.

The next day I went off on my own and explored the town. It´s quite different than Paris here. It´s much more new and commercial. The art, along with the city, is very bright and optimistic. It´s a very nice place but it does lack a bit of culture when compared with Paris and London. People always say that Paris and London is dirty, but I think Barcelona is much more dirty. None of their fountains work and it makes all of the water in the parks green. The sewer gasses also have a nasty habit of creeping up and smacking you in the face every two minutes when you walk down the street, too. That rarely happened in Paris. So anyways, I ended up in a museum that housed the collection of traveling oddities a man named Frederic Marès collected over fifty years of travel. His collections included everything from ancient religous art to pocketwatches and cigar wrappers. I have a feeling Mom-Mom would really like this musuem full of collectable trinkets and antiques.

Every big city has a tourist strip, and the Las Rambles is the Champs de Elysees of Barcelona. It has enough street performers, tourist traps, mediocre artists, overpriced restuarant, pickpockets and just the plain odd to satisfy anyone´s desires.

Today I checked out the beach and the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Gaudí pretty much put Barcelona on the artistic map, and one can see why. His buildings are unmistakable. The Gothic Quarter is basically a maze full of very narrow streets and very eager merchants. The beach in Barcelona has so far followed the pattern of the previous Mediteranean beaches I´ve been to: Full of beautiful women who just happen to be topless. (You were hoping for something to click on weren´t you?)Even the boardwalk is full of art.

Tomorrow I am off to the Picasso museum, as well as the cathedral and the park that Gaudí designed. As of right now the cathedral is set to be completed in 2025, so it´s pretty spectacular from what I have heard.

Oh yes, I enabled anonymous comments so you can now comment without registering. Sorry about that.

Click On 'Em

2007-07-01T01:36:00.003+10:00

Just a quite note. I edited and revised some previous entries now that I am in possesion of an English keyboard. I added some new stories and things to old posts as well as pictures. If you see any green, underlined words they are links to pictures.

It took me a while so take a minute and check them out.

Second Screw-Up

2007-06-30T17:25:00.003+10:00

"He took the midnight train going anywhere..."

I can now relate to that song. So I went on the wine tour and it was alright. I was hoping it was a more tasting-orientated class - as in they would teach you about the differences of wine, etc. It was more of a how-wine-is-made tour. Our first stop was Chateau La Tour Blanche. We went through a tour and tasted this very sweet wine called a Sauternes. It wasn't desert wine, so it was supposed to be drank from a full glass. It was just too sweet for me to enjoy unforuntately.

The second place we went to was the Chateau Magneau. We tried two whites - one that was oak barrel aged and one that was not - in order to tell the difference. It was really amazing how different it was. We then tried a red, what they called a Grave Rogue. That was also quite good.

So my original plan was to take the wine tour, return to the hostel, grab my bags, go to the train station and take a train to Tolousse, France and spend the night there. In the morning I planned on departing from Tolousse to Barcelona.

The problem I ran into was that once I arrived in Toulousse at 10:30 PM, I found out that the hostel was full. Not just for that ngiht, but for the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that, etc. This presents quite a serious problem since there is only one hostel in Tolousse. So I decided that I had three options. Drink coffee and read my book till 5 something when the train leaves, dump 35 Euros on a one star hotel with a good view of some hookers, or take a midnight train going anywhere and figure it out in the morning (remember that I have an unlimited Eurail pass). Option one was quickly out of the question because I found out the station closed at 1 AM. So the only two train that were overnight were to Paris and to Nice. Nice is a coastal town on the French Riviera. I chose Nice.

The only problem with the midnight train to Nice was that it required advance booking. Something that is obviously not in my vocabulary. So I got in the line with all of the people with booking tickets and waved my Eurail pass. There was some brief confusion, but they ultimately let me pass to the station. Once at the station, I had to be the first person to ask the conducter if I could purchase a bed reservation otherwise all else would be lost (or so I thought). The train finally arrived after listening to some Italian women shout at eachother for a half an hour (the thing is...they were never fighting, they were just talking). I run up to the train manager and he says that there is no beds left. But as I turn around he says that there are seats on the last car of the train, and I quickly find my way to them to say the least.

The thing with a sleeper car is that they are not going to check your reservation and wake you up, so that's why they check your ticket before you go to the station. Therefore, I got a reclining seat to Nice for free. It was pretty hard to sleep on the train and I forget what really happened. It was all a daze. But I did end up in Nice at 9 this morning and followed some guys I met from Colorado to the nearest hostel.

So today I went to the beach on the French Riviera. It sounds really nice, huh? Well, the whole beach is made out of large stones so it makes it difficult to walk, relax or do any kind of movement you are typically accustomed to at the beach. Plus, you're constantly surrounded by RWA's (rich white...I'll let you figure out the last word) and their overpriced restaurants. But there are some pretty women here, I guess that's a plus. There is quite a constrast evident because you'll walk past the boutiques where all the rich people are shopping, and then right into the poor section of town where you're staying. No matter how fancy of a place I may go, I don't think anything will beat going to Atlantic City or Bethany Beach with the family.

I plan on spending two nights here and then taking an overnight train to Barcelona (where the sand is apparently sandy) after that.

Paris Continued

2007-06-29T06:26:00.003+10:00

OK, I have heard a million things about Paris. That it's great, disgusting, pretty, trashy, hard to get around, expensive, touristy, classy, sophisticated and smelly. Well, it is all of those things, but regardless of the negatives I listed, I had an incredible time.

The first day on my own I visited the famous cemetery. I did in fact see Jim Morrison's grave, as well as Chopin's grave. The cemetery was huge and was divided up into 97 different sections which had no real orgazational system to them at all. Someone luckily gave me a map but it took me an hour of looking for Marcel Proust's grave before I gave up. I didn't even care that much but then it kind of became an annoying quest I had to complete. I wanted to see Wilde's grave, too. Women supposedly kiss all over his grave and such. All of the graves were so extravagant there. It was all surrounded by beautiful trees, and it was very peaceful and quiet. I have some marvelous pictures of the cemetery, but like most computers I have used, the tower is locked up so I cannot access the USB ports.

I got back to my hostel around dark (it was a long walk and I prefer not to use the Subway...it costs too much and you can take in more of the city when you are actually above ground). When I returned I met two people from New York named Jesse and Andrew. We went out to eat in the rain and it was pretty unpleasant (except for the meal). It cost me way too much and I have decided that eating out from now on will be a rarity. The real problem was that the waiter, seeing that we were American and knew how to tip, gave us our change back (about 10.50) with a 10 Euro Bill. This was before I figured out France includes tips with their meal, so needless to say we left a very happy waitress.

When I returned to my dorm I found it full of new faces. It went something like this:

Me: So where are you guys from?
Group: North Carolina, we all go to UNC.
Me: Oh, heh, I'm an incoming freshmen at UMD.
(Silence)
Group: Looking forward to basketball season?
Me: Yep.
(Silence)

And then we all went to bed.

The next day I went to the Catacombs with Jesse and some people he had met. The Catacombs of Paris are a large underground cave with stacks and stacks of bones and skulls. It was really interesting yet at the same time sort of bleak that all of these bones have been forgotten about and that they were in fact once people. Just to show you how quickly you can accumulate friends, our Catacomb group included Jesse, Andrew (a new Andrew from Canada - the first one left that morning to go back home), two girls from New Zealand, Omar and Renoir (two brothers from Puerto Rico), and four girls we met in line from Utah State.

After the catacombs I decided to relax back in my room (which had a delightful view of the street) and play guitar. It was really surreal to sit there with my feet propped on the edge of the railing looking out into the heart of Montemarte (in my opinion the coolest part of Paris). But then walked in my two new roommates - Clara from Brussels and Eli (short for Elizabeth) from Germany. They were here for a three day tour of Paris and we quickly became good friends. The first night we walked all around Montemarte and ended up getting pizza and eating it at the top of Butte Montemarte - a giant hill overlooking all of Paris. At the top is the Sacre Couer - a famous church built in 1919. When we went looking for a corkscrew we met Phillip and Phillip from Germany who actually were staying at our hostel. They were both great guys and we all spent the rest of the night chatting looking out over Paris.

The next day I went out with Clara and Eli around Paris and we ran into a interesting tourist trap that went something like this:

A lady comes out of no where and picks up a gold ring off the ground and says "Oooh a gold ring! Look at this! It is solid gold! Oh, but I can't wear it because of my religion, I'm Evangelist. You have it!" and she handed it to Clara. Clara refused but being the resourceful traveler I pretend to be, grab it and say "OK cool, I'll take it". So I say thanks and start to walk away when all of a sudden she runs up behind me and says "How about we get a cup of coffee to celebrate". Ah-ha. I pretty soon realized what was going on here but I told her I had no time to get coffee and that I had to go to the Eiffel Tower. She insisted and I insisted back until she finally held out here hand with a grin and expected me to give her the ring back. A part of me wanted to insist that the ring is now in my possession, another part of me wanted to give it back to her and get away and another part of me wanted to throw it into the River Seine. I wasn't sure how deep this went as it could have been as simple as bumming lunch off of me or leading me to her favorite café: you know the one where upon walking in you are at the receiving end of a baseball bat given to you by her brother Ramon and you wake up without any of your possessions? I gave it back to her and said "I know this trick. I don't think so".

Later another lady approaches me and asks me if I speak English. Eager to help, I say yes and she proceeds to shove a cardboard sign in my face about how poor she is and how she needs money. Ugh. This continues to happen throughout the day until I discover a line that pisses them off so much they leave you alone pretty quickly. It went like this:

Lady: Do you speak English?
Me: No I don't, sorry.
Lady: (Frowns) But I just heard you speak it to your friend.
Me: Then why did you ask?
(Exit Lady)

So later on I split from Eli and Clara to go to the Louvre. I unfortunately went into the wrong museum thinking it was the Louvre and ended up in a modern art exhibit. I realized this after I had paid money to get in, so I decided to check it out. It was pretty cool, but I would have liked to have seen the Louvre.

So instead I saw Mariah Carey. A huge crowd was around a hotel so I walked up and asked who it was everyone was waiting for. Someone answered in a thick French accent "Marah Caree". I didn't know who that was, so I decided to stick around and see what all the fuss was about. So I sat there for about 10 minutes taking pictures of every rich black man that got out of a nice car before Mariah Carey stepped out of the vehicle and walked right over in my direction. Too bad I don't like her music, otherwise it would have been really cool.

That night I invited some more roommates I met (Katie and Casey from Ohio and Adam from Indiana) as well as someone else I met (Joseph from Oregon) to the top of Butte Montemarte to join Clara, Eli, Phillip and Phillip and I for another night of soaking in the city. Needless to say we had quite a good time.

Today I went off to that odd museum I mentioned (which actually had some very informative exhibits on brothels in Paris and so forth) and then checked out Shakespeare and Co., that real famous bookshop where Hemingway and other famous authors lived for a while. It really was an amazing place. You could practically feel the history there.

By the way, here's a cool picture of the Eiffel Tower and of a protest I had to get through in Paris.

So today I said goodbye to all my friends and boarded a train to Bordeaux. Bordeaux so far is gross. The hostel is too big to meet anyone and it's right near all the sex shops and stuff. In Paris, you would walk down the Red Light District and say to yourself "Wow, what a crazy place". In Bordeaux, you just say to yourself "Eww". I'm going to do an English speaking wine tour tomorrow, which I think is the only reason people come here. Supposedly the outskirts are beautiful. These tours are supposed to be really informative - not just a blind tasting. They have their own tourist office dedicated to wine so it's kind of a big deal here.

After this it's Barcelona! People say it's the best place in Europe so we'll see.

Paris

2007-06-25T19:21:00.003+10:00

Right after I posted that last post I met a really nice guy named Nathaniel from Stockholm. He told me about this great little place outside Canterbury called Harbeldon and offered to take me there. So we traveled there the next day and had a drink at a pub overlooking the town. Unforunately he had to get to London that day, but it was nice traveling around with someone.

Well the Nick Drake tribute concert was really great. It was a great way to end my stay in Canterbury. It as good that I got to relax, because the next day was quite busy.

On the 23rd I did the following:

-Took a bus from Canterbury to Dover
-Took a ferry from Dover to Calais, France
-Took a train from Calais to Lille
-Changed stations and took a train from Lille to Paris
-Took the metro from Gare D'Nord to Charles De Gaulle station
-Found my way to the Brocketts hotel

At the ferry I met a nice guy from Scotland named Daniel. He played the accordion and he was carrying it with him. I don't know how he could take it but he assured me that it wasn't too bad. He was headed to Berlin but we both had to get to Paris first so he became my temporary travel companion until we reached Paris. On the train from Lille we met three people, one of whom was playing guitar. So we ended up playing accordion and guitar together the entire trip. So my first encounter with the French has been a good one.

The Metro in France confused the hell out of me at first and for a about twenty minutes I wondered around until it finally clicked and I got on the right train. French is really hard to pronounce but If you start out asking them if they speak English (in French of course) they will try to help you out. Muttering and mispronouncing French will not offend them as much as begining in English will.

Once I found the Brocketts we were both excited to see eachother. It was somewhat strange meeting in Paris. We went to the Eiffel Tower after I told them about my trip. The tower is beautiful at night.

They let me sleep on the floor, but it wasn't that bad considering I got a free breakfast and a nice shower and bathroom. The whole time I was there we had to keep sneaking around so they wouldn't catch on to our little plan.

Yesterday we went to the Museè dè Orsay, a great museum filled with mostly Impressionist art, but it had different kinds as well. We also went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but it was packed and everyone shuffled through like cattle, so that wasn't that great. The window was nice, though. The Brocketts took me out to dinner at the Planet Hollywood (it was their last day in Euope and they were craving some American food) and then I did some laundry in the sink and went to bed. They left early this morning (1 AM your time) and I snuck out undetected from the hotel. Well, actually I walked out the front door with them but never got in the taxi (sometimes the most inconspicuous way of doing something is doing the most obvious). But I did manage to grab a few croissants before I left and stick them in my bag for later.

By the way, I found a couple from Rockville in Paris. I think the UMD hat gave it away...

I found my hostel and will be spending a few more days here seeing the Louvre, Napoleon's grave, a cemetary where Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Chopin are buried and maybe even the Musuem of Erotic Art (sounds pretty out there).

My next update may not be for a while because this update is costing me fifteen dollars (edit: I was mistaken - only 4 dollars)and they keyboards are different here, so I am much slower typing.

Au revoir!

Canterbury Continued

2007-06-22T05:30:00.003+10:00

The evensong at Canterbury Cathedral was incredible. Thursday night is the Boy's Choir supposedly so I enjoyed that while taking in the 1200 year old cathedral. It was breathtaking walking around in there. I couldn't even imagine how long it must have taken to build.

I also bought a small Beatles guitar book with every song they ever wrote in it. It helps out because printing any kind of music from the internet costs about £1 a page. (That's $2.00). Speaking of money, the internet is really expensive. It's costing me £1 just to use the internet for a half an hour. The computer in the hostel is a coin operated one so I am unable to upload any more photos.

I think tomorrow I'll be leaving for Paris to meet the Brocketts. Dinner was good tonight, though it was a bit lonely. I'm hoping to meet some people my age in France when I'm in a more popular city.

Canterbury

2007-06-21T23:27:00.003+10:00

Greetings from Canterbury!

Well, Dover too, but mostly Canterbury. I walked around London yesterday and saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Both were breathtaking, but the abbey gave me chills. Looking at the chair that all of the kings were coronated in since the 1200's, I couldn't help but wonder "How can this be?". I had to rush though because I had to catch a bus to Dover - where I thought the hostel was.

For the record, the train lady steered me in the wrong direction...

I stayed on the coach all the way until Dover (which is past Canterbury) and ended up at a bus stop in the middle of a dead town at 10:30. Luckily a girl I met during the ride let me use her phone to call up the hostel to find out that it's in Canterbury. On Old Dover Road. In Canterbury. Confusing? Yes.

So the man at the hostel told me he'd keep it open just for me (the English hospitality is not a myth). The only problem was that I had to find the hostel. So I wandered around for a short while until I stumbled across some girls who were luckily headed in my direction. They led me to the hostel safe and sound.

The hostel was much more nice than the one in London. It has a beautiful dining area and garden and a private bathroom. I had the entire dormitory to myself for £15.

Today I walked around Canterbury and stumbled into a neat little cafe called "Coffee and Corks" where I met the nicest lady named Sue and her daughter Claire (who are letting me use their laptop - again with the hospitality!). They gave me a lot of travel tips and I hope to stop back in again on my way out to say hello.

Tonight I'll be going to the Canterbury Cathedral for Evensong (it's free then) and then out for dinner and a drink. Sue recommended me to "The Dolphin" - an independent joint with cheap (and good) food.

Tomorrow night I might go to a Nick Drake tribute concert at a local music club and then travel through the night to France - or perhaps spend another night here. I really do like Canterbury - it's charming. Sue told me that London is not England and I think she's right. London was busy and noisy but Canterbury is relaxing and full of history - the way I hoped it would be.

London

2007-06-20T21:54:00.003+10:00

I have arrived in London!

I arrived yesterday afternoon and found my way to the London Underground. It was really refreshing to be able to get right off a plane and on to a train that takes you directly to the city. I got off at Piccadilly Circus (Pick-a-dilly) and it at first sight it looks like Times Square. I went through all five stages of culture shock in a matter of minutes. The cool thing about London is that even though it is intensely commercial and expensive, the buildings retain a classical look to them. The city is rich in history.

The bad part of London is the prices. Unfortuately, my rail pass does not work in Britain. They require their own BritRail pass just like they refuse to use the euro (The probably have a good reason to because the pound sterling is quite strong - almost 2 to 1 to the US dollar). Getting around has been a bit confusing. The town is not laid out like a grid. Instead, it#s a maze of winding streets that often times do not have street signs. Any street signs in London are on a plate on a side of a building. It has been quite difficult to find my way around.

London is unbelievably expensive. One night in the hostel put me back $40. Speaking of hostels, the one I stayed in was very big and had every facility you would need. I was in a room with a couple from Australia and a student from India. Both were very nice and I had a good chat with the couple at about one o'clock this morning (I had woken up thinking I had just had a good night's rest and found that I had only slept for three hours or so). It really wasn't a good chat now that I think about it. We were both awoken by the sounds of drunken French girls above us and started laughing about it.

Yesterday I had a good look around London and settled in one of their parks for a while (Green Park). It was really nice to sit down and play soem gutar and read away from the city, which is already tiring me. Here's my tree.

The food in London is spectacular - or so it seems. Anyone who wishes to remain above the poverty line does not eat in London. Chances are if it's not a cafe or a swanky restuarant - it's a McDonalds. And I am NOT eating at McDonalds my first day. I did come close to settling for some fast food after wandering through the town for an hour looking for a decent deal. The best I could do was a £6.50 all you can eat Asian buffet. I had two plate fulls and left full - only to find one accross the street for £4.50. The couple in my room settled for KFC...

This morning I did have a "Traditional English Breakfast" at a local cafe.

Today I checked out of the hostel and I will be taking a train to Dover. I'll probably spend the night there and then hop on a ferry to France tomorrow. I was going to go to the free exhibits at the Royal Academy of Arts but they do not allow 'large rucksacks of any kind' so I couldn't go. I did go into a huge five story bookstore and looked at books that I had trouble not buying. I'm going to find a discount used book store in Dover - I hope.

For some reason it's taking a long time to upload my photos. Maybe from now on I'll only upload the really interesting ones. I am paying by the minute here. It's a good thing I'm a good person, because it would be really easy to steal this internet.

My Photo Album

Well, I think I am off to West Minster abbey or some other place before I hit the rails. Until later...

Europe Trip

2007-06-14T03:20:00.003+10:00

Hey I'm leaving for Europe this Monday and I'll be keeping in touch with you all via this website. So check in often to hear about where I am and what I'm doing. I promise I'll include pictures!